I wrote this piece in 2017, and in many ways this problem has worsened across our nation and in new and more dangerous forms. Take a minute and read this, reflect on it, are you guilty? I still find myself slipping into some these bad habits. Let us know what you think!
The Pursuit of Relevance (And How it’s Killing the Church)
April 20, 2017
To be honest I struggled to write this, not because I don’t believe it, but rather because A.) it’s not popular, and B.) I personally struggle with getting caught in this pursuit to be relevant. I’m a millennial, and we often get a bad reputation for, well, everything. Some of these criticisms that are put on us are earned, one of them being the fact that we cannot stick to anything for too long, which isn’t always a bad thing. But when it bleeds into the church, we start to play a dangerous game. The church today is trendy and vilified all at the same time which places the Church in a vulnerable place as we maneuver through the trends of the day and the political sphere which is constantly shifting. Somewhere along the way, and I can’t exactly place when, the church has sacrificed sincerity and uniqueness for a cultural façade that fits the narrative that many are trying to push. Now don’t misunderstand me, many of the things that the church is doing have been/are beneficial and led by men and women whose intentions were pure, yet somehow we have managed to pervert them all in the name of “relevance.”
I’m a “PK”, which is the cool way of saying preacher’s kid, and to be honest I have loved growing up with that title. Growing up as a PK has allowed me to see church behind the scenes, both the good and bad, and I have always had a good idea what the pulse of the church is. When I was young I remember longing to be in church, I loved the fellowship, the community. I loved the simplicity of it all, maybe that’s the country side of me that I swear doesn’t exist y’all (oops, it slipped). Seriously though, people loved to come to church, people were smiling, people worshipped hard, and above all they longed to hear the Word preached, unadulterated, and without worrying about offending anyone.
As I got older I got busier, as did the rest of the world, and with this, the church took a back seat. The church was now faced with trying to figure out how to “entice” people to want to come back when there were simpler less invasive ways to get churched. Excuses ranged, and still do. I mean sure, we are all guilty of some of the following: “I can’t come, because SPORTS!” or “I worked all week, momma needs her beauty sleep (or papa, no judgment)” or, “THE WALKING DEAD!! I know it’s on Sunday nights, but still I need to emotionally prepare for what could take place. That Negan is a bad dude.” or the, “I’ll just stream (insert pastor and worship band here) and get my Jesus fix at home.” Oh and lastly the, “I just don’t want to come, it’s boring or I can’t worship there or and the pastor is a BIGOT!” Ok, maybe some of these are extremes, but I swear I have heard all of these to some extent. With all this competition for our time, how was the church ever to be a contender? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here comes Mr. Relevance and all his friends. (Gasp! I assumed its gender).
The pursuit of relevance isn’t always a bad thing. If we are honest with ourselves we all long to be accepted or “relevant” if you will. From a young age we are pressured to fit in with what’s popular, whether it’s the music, the clothes, the speech, etc, and we will often sacrifice a little of who we are each time to “fit” what we are expected to be. I remember one of the earliest examples of myself trying to fit in all the way back in 3rd grade. My parents had picked me and some friends up from school (a Christian school at that) and I decided that I was going to impress my friends with my “ballin” music, and put in Nelly’s Nellyville and skipped straight to “Hot in Herre”. I told my parents beforehand it was a new Christian artist, to which they listened to -- oh, about the first 30 seconds -- and yanked that CD straight out. I was embarrassed and obviously stupid. What was I expecting? My parents aren’t deaf, and this song wasn’t exactly a bastion of morality. My friends laughed, but I didn’t. I was hurt, I was embarrassed by my parents for being lame dorks (pretty sure that was the lingo I would have used). How often do we take the same approach to church? We all want our churches to be filled with people who are hungry and thirsty for more of God, people who are hurting and broken and need a touch from God, but what are we willing to sacrifice to get these people in? What are we willing to compromise? We never say it like this, because it sounds bad (and it is), but we want to “impress” people with our church.
Churches today have put an excessive emphasis on aesthetics, mostly centering on worship, but not just limited to that. Many churches today (not all) are infatuated with putting on a show versus worshiping, and the sad part is I don’t even think they/we realize it. We have all been to the conferences where they have the stage lights, world class musicians, fine tuned instruments, state of the art sound system, the subtle fog that fills the stage, and they play the newest worship songs while we worship together. The conference ends and we come home “on fire” ready to vanquish Satan and his comrades in Mordor. The magic dies for most, however, when we step back into our own churches and it’s not what we just experienced. The lights may be dimmed but it’s not the same. The musicians are good but it’s not (insert worship band). The songs are new, but not the newest. There aren’t thousands of others around you to make it more comfortable to worship freely. Little by little, that fire you had dies down till eventually you think, “Maybe this church over here will have that “feel.” Church after church you struggle to find a place that feels like that conference, -- feels like that one time. Churches all over the nation are now forced to try and recreate a “feeling” or “atmosphere” that will be inviting or impressive to all those who see it. Let me clarify, I understand that the church needs to be appealing to a degree. I understand that we want to get this millennial generation in church, and we try to make it as culturally relevant as possible, which at its base isn’t bad. I understand the want and desire to have worship be aesthetically pleasing. I mean - I drum in a cage at church because I’m a little too loud. I get it, I live it, and I struggle with it. I found myself at a crossroads, however, while sitting in a worship service recently and just couldn’t get into it. Why? Because it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. The lights were on, the songs were a couple years old, etc. God really dealt with me that day and I haven’t been the same since. If we can’t worship because of the aesthetics, that’s not a church problem. That’s a heart problem. I feel we have stopped listening to what we are singing about and who we are singing to, and have developed a sense of lip service under the name of “worship.” We can’t base our relationship with Christ and desire to worship on a “feeling” or emotion. Those are fleeting and circumstantial. If we are being honest, for many, the worship part of the service will make or break someone’s decision on whether or not they will come back. If the worship team isn’t impressive and the mood isn’t just right, we gone.
Do you know who wasn’t impressive from at least an aesthetic standpoint? Jesus. WHOA! Pump the breaks man! That’s blasphemy, you heretic! Ok, let me explain. Jesus didn’t go around in fancy robes with his man bun and Torah telling people what they wanted to hear. Jesus wasn’t born to some elite family. Jesus wasn’t announcing himself everywhere he went (quite the opposite actually). Jesus wasn’t trying to impress anyone; He was virtually unimpressive in appearance. Don’t believe me? Peep this: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem.” Isaiah 53:2-3 (NIV). I’m convinced that if Jesus showed up today and started preaching, many of us wouldn’t even pay Him any mind. His “church” wouldn’t have all that we have become accustomed to and clamor for. His message would make us uncomfortable; it wouldn’t fit in the box we put Him in. The saddest part, and this is pure speculation, but we would probably run Him out of town.
“But Jonathan, I would never do such a thing.” Alright, good for you. But for many, that’s not the case and can be seen plainly by our own words and actions. We Christians talk a good talk, by saying we want revival, and that the aesthetics don’t matter. We say that church is more than worship, yet we listen to the preaching (which is more important by the way) through a filtered lens while we scroll through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. We look at the time impatiently - ready to go eat, in hopes of beating the Sunday crowd. Yet we turn around and complain about how we aren’t getting anything out of church and that we aren’t growing. So we leave, and we try to get others to leave with us, because I mean we don’t know how to anything on our own (see the beginning about uniqueness). Until the church quits striving to be the pageant queen, we will continue to see people come and go because our focus isn’t on them. It’s on us.
Many people don’t talk about the instance in Matthew 21:12-13 when Jesus went all Rambo in the temple flipping tables and taking names. That Jesus doesn’t fit our narrative, but I feel like we would see the sequel in our churches today. As I sit here typing this, realizing I only have two classes of Bible College left, I find myself wondering if I’m fit for ministry. Not because of my passion to share the Word of God. Not because I’m scared to get in front of people. Not because I question my calling. No, but because the logistics might get me. Seriously, by the looks of the many leaders in the church today, they're stressing out. They're worrying over the people to seat ratio. They're worrying about their church membership to baptism quota. They're worrying about how many times to “go live” during the week to have optimal reach. I’m afraid future seminary students will have to take a biblical stats class - (joking, kind of).
With all of this concern with staying relevant, why aren’t we seeing more growth? It’s not like people don’t know the church is there. Trust me. We know. Honestly, people are tired of the constant pursuit to keep up with what’s trending. People don’t say anything, or maybe they do, but the ones who do get drowned out by the deafening sound of the group mentality who chase after what’s shiny. I understand I’m in a small minority in my generation with this view point, and that’s ok. I’m just tired of seeing people elevate relevance over Jesus. Jesus doesn’t need a facelift; He stays the same through the ages. When people truly experience Jesus and his love, grace, and forgiveness, everything else falls into place. What people are experiencing in many churches now is a watered down gospel that follows behind misguided attempts at staying relevant. This isn’t Jesus. This pursuit for relevance is the reason we see so many churches split and then split again, leaving many people in the wake wondering if this is what church is about or if this is what Jesus is about. They're coming to the conclusion that they don't want it. But the cycle continues and the church keeps going with the catch and release technique. We bring them in with our lures (building, programs, worship, social media, lights, etc) in hopes that we can keep them as a trophy to add to our collection. There is no real substance; no discipleship. People aren’t growing. People aren’t truly coming to know Jesus, but rather an abstract version of Jesus veiled by the church and its sideshows. It’s no wonder that churches aren’t retaining people. There is no wonder why “Christians” can belt out every new worship song, but only know John 3:16 and that’s about it. This is a problem, and it’s killing the church.
If we the people are the Church, then we should be reflecting Jesus. But I don’t see that as a whole. Listen, I’m guilty of all that I have mentioned. It’s why I’m writing this. I’ve been so caught up in this chase to stay relevant that I have lost part of my identity. I have been sold a lie - a lie that I’m still tempted to buy into. We don’t have to sacrifice who we are to bring people to Jesus; we should take Jesus to them. Where is all the outreach? Where is the effort in reaching people out of the church? Simple, we are more focused with promoting ourselves. We are more focused on getting people into the church building. We are more focused on keeping people entertained and comfortable. There's one quote that has stood out to me since I read it from the book “The Insanity of God” by Nik Ripken (excellent book btw). In regards to the church of America, he states, “We are often asked if we believe that persecution is coming to America. My response is often rather pointed. I say, quite sincerely, ‘Why would Satan want to wake us up when he has already shut us up? Why would Satan bother with us when we are already accomplishing his goal? He will likely conclude that it is better to let us sleep.’ Perhaps the question should not be ‘Why are others persecuted? Perhaps the better question is: ‘Why are we not?'”
Hits hard doesn’t it? It’s not that the church isn’t known, because you can be known and have no power. You can be known and have no life. You can be known and not know who you are. Satan is perfectly content with dangling relevance in front of us as long as we are willing to chase it. It’s kind of like that Allstate commercial where the man dangles the dollar in front of people and when they reach for it he pulls away saying, "You almost got it!” ...Okay, maybe that's just me. Welcome to the way my mind functions.
The church is in a constant state of trying to “get it” by trying to be the best, the most relevant, and the most known. Where does that leave Jesus? Until the church can break free of this detrimental cycle of chasing something that we will never fully achieve, we will never see our potential realized. Until the church puts Jesus back at the center, we will stay in our perpetual sleep -- dreaming about the revival we all claim to want.
Do I want to be relevant? Yes, but at what cost? Do I want my church to be relevant? Yes, but at what cost? Do I want Jesus to be relevant? He already is. Please understand that. Jesus doesn’t need updating. Jesus doesn’t need the lights and the performance to be glorified. Jesus doesn’t need us to water down His word so that we won’t offend anyone. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. There is nothing that we do that can make Jesus more relevant. We may think we do, but we are wrong. We only get in the way. I love my Jesus, I love my church, I love the worship service, I love hearing the Word of God, and I love my community of believers. Not one of these things elevates over my individual, unique love and relationship with Jesus.
So do you want to see change? Be the change. Challenge this cultural obsession in its pursuit of relevance and show that we are more than a just a façade. Be unique. Don’t be afraid to stand apart.
Be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Jonathan McWherter
Mostly Focused
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