by Rich Doebler
The other day I read a short blog post that talked about how Christian Media (specifically TV and radio) are increasingly irrelevant. The post and the conclusions made me wonder if it might say something about the state of western Christianity in general—including what we do as a church to communicate a relevant message to our society. We are all trying to develop ministries that connect with our community, but are we even able to speak the language of those who are not yet believers?
This blog raised several questions for me that I would like to bring up here to hear from you:
- Forget about Christian media—has the church become irrelevant to the world? What I mean is:
- Is our message really connecting with people? Does the world view the church as a relevant voice in their lives?
- Does the church speak more to believers on the inside or to those on the outside?
- Is our message really connecting with people? Does the world view the church as a relevant voice in their lives?
- Is relevancy determined by what people want to hear or by what God says they need to hear?
- Does the message of the church become more irrelevant when we ignore the buzz in contemporary society or when we join it?
So, let’s say we choose to speak to the contemporary issues that everyone is talking about, which topics do we select:
- Is the chaos in the Middle East leading to Armageddon?
- How about the dysfunction of power politics in Washington?
- Or, what about popular topics like poverty, abuses of big business, global warming?
- the list could go on and on…
In all of this, how do we follow Paul’s example, who said, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (Gal 1:10, NASB) and at the same time said “…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some”? (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
The blog post I read seemed to advocate more of the popular or sensational fare as what is relevant. However, we get frustrated, at times, because what is popular seems to be somewhat narrow or immature in its perspective. People with “itching ears” are often interested in topics we would put way down on our priority list. How do we connect with people on things they want to hear while at the same time, nudging them in the direction of what they need?
What do you think? How do we become all things to all people while at the same time not striving to please people instead of God???
Rich Doebler is Senior Pastor of Cloquet Gospel Tabernacle in Minnesota and also serves as a Fellowship Elder for the Upper-Midwest.
