When Jesus returned to heaven, He left behind 11 disciples to continue the work He had begun. They were His ambassadors.
Today, we are Christ’s ambassadors. We find ourselves
in a socially-complex world. Multitudes are desperately
searching for truth, real meaning, and a way forward
in life. The question is, How can we significantly impact
our world for Him? Of course, for us to achieve this goal,
we must be relevant to our culture.
When I talk about the need for the church to be relevant
today, I am not talking about changing the message
of the gospel to fit with the times. Rather, I am talking
about effectively carrying out the charge of our Lord in the
culture in which we live.
So let me share some of my thoughts about what
needs to be done. First and foremost, our message in
the pulpit and in Sabbath School must provide answers
to real, tough problems. We can’t do this unless
we are attuned to the issues of our day.
There is not one problem any of us face
for which we can’t find excellent counsel
and victory through the Word of God. The
church must become the place where the
people of this generation can come for
answers and strategies that they can’t find
anywhere else.
Secondly, to be relevant, the
church must go outside the four
walls of its building and learn about
the community in which God has
placed it. We must do more than
just place a “Welcome” sign
on our door. Each church must learn to “read” its community. God has placed us on this
Earth to impact those around us.
Thirdly, the church must believe in and depend on
the work of the Holy Spirit. He wants to work supernaturally
through God’s people. We cannot impact this world
through strategies and techniques alone. Only the Holy
Spirit can break the spirit of this world and the spiritual
shackles that hold humanity captive. Only He can draw
people to the Father. Only He can change souls from the
inside out.
Finally, although I love preaching and teaching the
Word of God, Jesus makes it clear that the gospel is more
than that. We serve Him by serving others. He said that
when we feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, and
offer shelter to strangers, we have essentially done the
same to Him (see Matt. 25:34-40). Moreover, He said,
when we neglect to do these things, we have in effect
failed to do the same to Him! The bottom line is that we
will not be counted relevant if we fail to exercise His ministry
of compassion to this hurting world.
I believe that most Christians would agree, at least
in principle, that the things I have touched on here are
practical strategies that we must implement to become
more relevant to our world today. These things cannot be
legislated. They go beyond telling church members what
the Bible says they need to do. Knowing what needs to
be done and actually doing it can be worlds apart. It all
boils down to this: To be relevant to our socially-complex
world, we must fall in love with Jesus. When we do, we
will love the things He loves. His will for us will become
our consuming passion, so that as Christ gave His life to
save a lost world, we will give ours to reach the lost of
today.
