The Relevant Church
7-17/18-04
The Relevant Church
When I announced the last class of Step 2 Graduates a couple of months ago, I told you they were helping us toward our goal of becoming like every church ought to want to become the most spiritual church in America. Today we are going to test how well we’re doing. We have a little quiz for you to take. We have a prize for the person with the most right answers. We have 7 words for you to define from a list of multiple choice answers. Just right down your answer on your bulletin. Here goes:
1. Amen - a) Let your kingdom come b) Let it be c) Lord hear this d) Let’s eat
2. Blessed - a) healthy, wealthy and wise b) gifted c) favored by God d) the english word for “gesundheit”
3. Disciple - a) a person who goes to church b) a student of church history c) a learner/follower d) redneck for “this apple”
4. Maranatha- a) come quickly b) be accursed, c) a mountain in Judea, d) Hiawatha’s brother
5. Repent - a) tell a story b) continue steadily on course c) a change in mind, heart and action d) the war cry for Wake Forest’s Demon Deacons
6. Hosanna - a) save us, b) O great God, c) a third century martyr, d) spray water on Anna
7. Hallelujah - a) I’m so happy b) one of the names referring to God c) praise the Lord d) heb. for “yaba-daba-doo”
The reason we wanted to go through this little exercise is to realize how easy it is to be uncertain or unclear even about things we talk about in church all the time. If we’re confused about these things, no wonder people in the world have no idea what we’re talking about. God wants us to reach our world, but we won’t reach them if they can’t understand us. In order to reach our world we must be relevant, but we need to be careful with this idea of relevance. There are religious people who want to justify all kinds of behavior in the name of being relevant. In the Bible the apostle Paul says, “I have become all things to all men that I might save some.” He says, “to the Jews I became a Jew that I might win Jews,” but we must understand this concept has limitations. He did not say, “to the criminals I become a criminal so I might win criminals.” He doesn’t say, “to the drug addict I became a drug addict that I might win drug addicts.” When I say God wants us to reach our world by being relevant, I mean we have to connect with people and communicate in the circumstances where they are.
God expressed how concerned He is about relating to our world when He gave us His Son Jesus. Theologians call this the incarnation-- God made into the flesh of humanity.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14]
The apostle John says people understood God when they saw Jesus. Jesus lived right with them and He was wonderful--full of grace and truth. God still wants to reach the world in the same way through us. God wants us to reach our world by communicating understandably, practically and appreciably.
This concept of reaching the world in a relevant manner was demonstrated early in Jesus’ ministry when He healed a paralyzed man. You probably remember this occasion when Jesus was at a house in Capernaum in Galilee. He was teaching and people had come from all over to hear Him. There were even religious leaders from Jerusalem and there were so many people that it was crowded far outside the door of the house. Some men came to the house carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher hoping to see Jesus and to ask Jesus to heal their friend. Since they couldn’t get anywhere near Jesus, they carried their friend to the roof of the house, made an opening through the roof tiles and lowered their friend down to Jesus. Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven,” and the religious leaders thought Jesus was being blasphemous in claiming to forgive the man. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said that He made that statement so everyone would know He has the power to forgive sins. Then He told the paralyzed man to get up and walk away, and the man did. Everyone was amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Jesus gave us the example that to reach our world we must first ...
State God’s Message Understandably
In the situation of the paralyzed man, Jesus was not just making a broken body well. He was communicating to all those people that He is the forgiver of sins. Jesus could have done what He did many times later by simply touching the sick person and restoring their health without even saying a word. Jesus wanted the people to know that He was not just a compassionate man or a good doctor. Jesus wanted people to know He is the Savior of the world and He clearly communicated that to them by the words He chose for that moment. All their lives the people who were gathered in that house had believed that a person’s sickness was the result of his sin. When their ancestors first settled in the land God gave them, they had the blessings and curses of God read to them from Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerezim which they all stood between. God said to them that if they kept all His commandments and laws, they would experience His blessings-- success, peace, prosperity and health. The blessings specifically stated that they would have none of the diseases that God had brought on Egypt if they kept God’s commands. God would be their healer. But if they disobeyed, they would be cursed with all the diseases of Egypt that they dreaded. Even when Jesus’ own disciples saw a blind may, they asked Jesus who is the one who sinned--this man or his parents that caused him to be born blind. So in that house with the paralyzed man before Him, Jesus didn’t tell the man he was healed from his paralysis. Jesus said he was forgiven of his sin. When the man got up and walked away, the people knew that the man’s sins had been forgiven because the paralysis which they understood to be a curse for disbedience was gone. At that moment they clearly understood that Jesus was indeed the forgiver of sin.
Jesus was not just relaying words, He was communicating His message. And that’s what we must do if we are going to reach our world. The people at that house understood what Jesus was communicating because of the words He chose and they way in which He presented them to the situation. Christians and churches have not always been very good in communicating like Jesus. Too many times we have simply relayed religious words to the people we speak to. When Christians say things like, “hallelujah” “blessed” and “saved” the world wonders what that’s supposed to mean and they supply their own definitions. And let me tell you. It doesn’t matter what you think you mean when you say something to someone. When you say it, the only thing it means is what the other person thinks it means when you say it, because that’s all they get from it. Their background, education and experience have already supplied a meaning to the words they hear. This is the problem of translating meaning into language. In order to state God’s message understandably we have to know what our audience understands. Here’s a simple example. I could say to a 6 year old, “You need to extricate your olefactory orifice occlusion” and his eyes would glaze over. The words are English. I have used them correctly and I know what I mean, but what’s that to him? If I want him to understand me I’ll have to say, “You need to blow the snot out of your nose.” The Bible says...
“If you don’t speak in a way that can be understood, how will anyone know what you’re saying? You will be talking into thin air...” [1 Corinthians 14:9, God’s Word]
For a whole lot of people in the world when Christians talk it sounds like those big words sound to that 6 year old. Christian talk often sounds like so much churchy babble. Saying Jesus is our Lord and Savior is time honored phraseology for church people, but calling Him Leader and Forgiver makes more sense to others. There is always a need to update our language because both language and people change. If you’ve been here very long, you have noticed I quote from a lot of different translations of the Bible. The reason is because language and people change, and because meaning is what is important--not just familiar sounding words. I became most convinced of this when I carefully studied how Jesus and the apostles quoted the Old Testament. They were not worried about absolute word for word accuracy in their quotes. They were concerned about communicating the meaning of the Bible.
I hear a lot of people tell me that when they read the Bible, they just can’t understand it so they don’t read it much. That’s not the way Jesus spoke to people. When He spoke, people easily understood Him. The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible clearly and understandably. I always tell people to get a Bible they can read and understand. Some church people think that’s wrong. They think that different translations somehow dilute the Bible and make it no longer God’s book. Some people insist that only the most literal word for word translation is right. Let me say that if you are a good student and read carefully you will get God’s message from every widely accepted translation of the Bible. At the same time I strongly believe you need to have one translation you become completely familiar with and is the Bible you memorize verses from. I recommend the NIV Bible as the standard English Bible for today. You need to realize that the New Testament was originally written in the commonly used Greek language. The Greek language of Jesus’ day which was used in scholarly writings, in great literature and in government records was different. But the Bible was written in the language used every day in conversation, grocery lists and business deals. God communicates in plain ordinary language. God wants people to understand His message and His meaning. We need to state God’s message understandably too.
Let me illustrate the kind of problem literal word for word translation can present which is the reason I say to get a Bible you can understand. In English we call the person who works at putting out fires a fireman. In our country a couple of generations ago the person who started and maintained the fire in a steam locomotive was also called a fireman. Since we used the same word to mean different things it is confusing for someone of another language learning what the English word fireman meant. If I translate the word fireman very literally into Spanish it would be “el hombre del fuego” -- the man of fire. To a Spanish speaking person that man could be on fire, or made of fire, or even be a man who starts fires. That’s not what firemen are called in Spanish. In Spanish fireman is “bombero.” In French it’s “pompier.” The literal idea of those words is “pumper” because it used to be that firemen were the ones who pump water on the fire. It’s not always a literal word for word mechanical translation that communicates meaning correctly. The apostle Paul emphasizes the need to state God’s message understandably...
“I’d rather say five words that everyone can understand and learn from than say ten thousand that sound to others like gibberish.” [1 Corinthians 14:19, the Message]
Jesus was concerned about stating God’s message understandably. He could have spoken esoterically about the spiritual intricacies of heaven, but He didn’t. Jesus spoke plainly about very ordinary, everyday kinds of things. Jesus often said the kingdom of heaven is like families, and farming, and fishing. These are the things people understood and can relate to. Clarence Jordan is a Christian scholar who lived in the south and he very much wanted the poor black people he served to understand God’s message so he contextualized the Gospels to the sights, sounds, smells and realities of the south where his constituency lived. He wrote the Cotton Patch version. Let me read the Cotton Patch version of Jesus’ healing the paralyzed man.
[Cotton Patch]
People Clarence Jordan worked with understood Jesus’ message for their lives in the way Jordan wrote the Cotton Patch. We don’t need to re-write the Bible, but in order to reach our world we do need to State God’s Message Understandably to our world and we also need to...
Relate God’s Message Practically
Jesus didn’t just tell the paralyzed man that he shouldn’t worry about his paralysis anymore. Jesus didn’t just tell the man he would have a new body to enjoy forever in heaven. Jesus didn’t say he could be a whole lot worse off or that he would only have to be in that condition a short while longer. Jesus didn’t just tell the man that God would love him and be with him no matter what happened. All that was true and would be good for him, but that man had to struggle to get through each day here on earth as long as he lived. He was pressed with problems right then. He didn’t have the luxury of just thinking happy thoughts about eternity. That man had huge problems and Jesus healed his body for his life in the here and now.
Being relevant means we relate God’s message practically. We have to speak in a way people recognize and respond to. We have to communicate what the world understands to be valuable-- something they can connect with.
A preacher in a small church asked everyone in the congregation who wanted to go to heaven to stand up. The preacher noticed that every single person in the room stood up except one fellow. The preacher then asked the man, “Don’t you want to go to heaven when you die?” “Certainly,” the man replied. “Then why didn’t you stand up?” The preacher asked. The man responded, “I thought you were taking up a load right now.” The man wanted to go to heaven eventually, but it wasn’t something he wanted right to do right at that moment. He didn’t connect with what the preacher was saying.
A lot of what the church talks about doesn’t connect with the world. It may all be good spiritual stuff, but people who don’t know the Bible and don’t know much about spiritual things are wondering, “What does that have to do with my life right now?” People have problems with their finances and their marriages, with their children and their dishwashers. People have problems with their jobs and with their health. They want to know, “What could the church possibly have to say to me?” They want to know what God and the Bible have to do with the problems of their lives. The church that spends its time debating the way to serve communion or the number of years we might face in the tribulation, loses the audience who need the message of God’s love.
I don’t claim to be any kind of great preacher, but I do work hard at trying to communicate something God can help you do. Every main point of my messages is an action you can take to experience more of God’s work in your life or express more of what He has already done. I attempt not just to say, “Here’s something interesting about this subject,” but I try to say, “Here is something you can do about this.” There is always a verb you can take home and put into practice. The things I just said about speaking understandably are good counsel whatever the situation. We reach our goals and enjoy better relationships when we speak understandably whether it’s with our mates, our employers, our children, our friends, or our business associates.
In order to reach our world as God wants us to, we have to relate His message to things that help people. The Bible says...
“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” [James 2:14-17, the Message]
I’m glad we have the Basic Blessing ministry that gives new clothing to people who need it. Our children’s ministries and our student ministries help parents educate and raise their kids. Our cell groups provide friendship and encouragment for everyone who gets involved so that no one has to be lonely and discouraged all the time. Our mission team that travels to Mexico this week will be relating God’s message to people in very practical ways like construction projects for an orphanage and service projects for their community. These are all great things but there is so much more that needs to be done and that we could do in divorce care, grief support, and recovery ministries for alcoholism, substance abuse and sexual abuse.
“God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.” [1 Corinthians 4:20, the Message]
Being a relavant church means we State God’s Message Understandably, we Relate God’s Message Practically, and we...
Communicate God’s Message Appreciably
You may be saying, “I don’t exactly know what that means.” What I mean is that part of being relevant is to communicate God’s Message in a way that people can appreciate. We have to communicate with quality and excellence. When Jesus healed the paralyzed man...
“Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’” [Luke 5:26]
In today’s vernacular what Jesus did rocked. The paralyzed man didn’t struggle and strain to get up. The Bible says he stood up immediately in front of everyone. The man didn’t limp off groaning in pain. The Bible says he went home praising God. A lot of people in our world are not terribly impressed with the church. From what they see--it ain’t all that, and a lot of churches have earned the title--like the old church in the country that really needed to be remodeled. At one of their board meetings the preacher proposed that they buy a chandlier for the narthex and one of the good ol boys disagreed with him. He said, “We can’t afford no shandy-leer and if we got one nobody could play it and besides that what we really need is a light for the lobby.
Many Christians are careful to not create chandlier churches. They insist that all we need are just the basics. I know that some churches have wrongly gone overboard with lavish furnishings for themselves, but there is also a misguided idea of stewardship that is just as wrong in cheapness that has led to an abandonment of our culture. In many ways the church has retreated into speaking only in ways it appreciates. In the world of film, art, and culture almost everything is non-christian. It doesn’t have to be this way. I was so glad for Mel Gibson’s work in the Passion of Christ. There was God’s message communicated in a way our culture could appreciate. God has been extravagant in nature with color, design, and beauty. He made us in His image to be creative and this includes the cultural arts.
The culture we live in is a prosperous culture. Carelessness, sloppiness, and shoddiness in God’s church not only dishonors Him, but sends a bad message about Him to others. The prosperity of our culture requires high quality and high commitment in all we do. ‘Just Good enough’ is just not good enough. God did not create the world and say, ‘Good enough.’ He said, “It is good,” and when He created humans, He said, “It is very good.” When God says something is good, it beats anything any human could ever do, and when He says it is very good, the greatness is way beyond our understanding of it. Quality earns an audience. The Bible says...
“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings.” [Proverbs 22:23]
People want to become part of something that is worthwhile. The relevant church does everything it can to gain as wide a hearing as possible for God’s message. It requires that everything be done with quality. To do anything less than the best we can is dishonoring to God and to the people He wants us to reach.
Jesus always gave the very best. His teaching was better than any previous teacher’s had been. When Jesus healed people, there was no wait and see how it goes, you just got to have more faith, or give something to me before you get your miracle. His healings were free, instantaneous, complete, and perfect. Never once did Jesus say, “That’s good enough for you.” Everyone who received from Jesus got something even greater than they expected--added value, if you will.
Jesus went to parties at rich people’s houses and He didn’t say they shouldn’t have what they had. His condemnation was for people who were miserly in their attitude and actions. Even Jesus’ own disciples came under His rebuke for their condemnation of a woman’s extravagance in pouring perfume on Jesus’ feet that cost a year’s wages.
King David of Israel knew that what we do to honor God has to be expensive in some way or what we do does not really honor Him. When one of the king’s subjects wanted to let David have his animals and wood for sacrificing, the king said:
“I can’t offer the Lord my God a sacrifice that I got for nothing.” [2 Samuel 24:24, Contemporary English Version]
God’s message to us through His Son was expensive.
“It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know.” [1 Peter 1:18, the Message]
“...don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.” [1 Peter 1:17, the Message]
The Relevant Church will speak God’s Message Understandably, Practically, and with quality that can been seen and appreciated.
Several years ago the Hallmark Greeting Card Company used the advertising slogan, “When you care enough to send the very best, make it a Hallmark.” God did care enough to send the very best. We rightly do no less as a church and as an individual. Will you give Him the best of you?