Relevance

The folks over at Catalyst have an mp3 on file you can download here of an interview with George Barna where he describes why he wrote his book, Revolution. (I found it interesting to hear the man’s actual voice, instead of the one that my mind had created that played in my head any time I read his words. Have you ever been surprised to hear what someone really sounds like…?)

In the interview, Barna describes the frustration he felt after having trained so many church leaders in America for over a decade, while simultaneously coming to the conclusion that very little real life change was taking place as a result. His research revealed many people were leaving the church in order to draw closer to Christ and follow him more fully. He states, “Their call to action was not to go to church, but to be the church.” (Another articulation of this same idea can be found in a short video clip of Mark Driscoll discussing the difference between seeker churches and missional churches. It is taken from a series of short videos that were produced by the speaker lineup at a conference hosted by John Piper dealing with the relevance of Christianity in a post-modern world. I encourage you to check out the others by clicking here.) A lot has been written about Barna’s own personal journey since Revolution came out, some of it quite vindictive, in my view, accusing him of finding what he wanted to find instead of objectively looking at the data he uncovered.

While I am quite convinced that the church of Jesus Christ is and will always be triumphant in any and every culture, I do think his message needs to be heard by all of us who help lead God’s people today. Our answers to his questions must go well beyond simple matters of style. As my good friend, Ken Janke, often points out, what many people want more than anything else from the church today is authenticity. That is far more important to them than cultural relevance!

Witness the iconic stature of Mother Teresa. She never would have won an award for being “hip” or “cool,” yet her influence cut across the entire social spectrum of most every nation on the planet. Why? Because people believed she was real. In their eyes, what she did revealed who she was. Her credibility resulted from her authenticity. Even when people did not agree with what she said, they were willing to listen to her say it, and sometimes her words pierced their hearts. While this phenomenon has probably been true throughout human history, it is particularly the case in our western world. Before post-moderns ever get to the question, “Is it true?” they first ask, “Is it real?” No one I know seriously questions whether or not the diminutive nun from Albania believed and practiced what she preached.

As I read and listen to Barna and Driscoll and Hybels and Stanley and Batterson and a Tall Skinny Kiwi and a host of others like them, I hear God calling the church to a more intentional, active, and winsome engagement with those who do not know Jesus than ever before. In response, my own heart cries out to Him, asking for help for myself and the people I serve, that we might follow Him so closely that people will see right through the outward trappings of the clothing we wear and the music in our worship services and the technological means we acquire and the verbiage we use and everything else that makes up human culture, as beautiful and important and relevant as it is, and see straight into our very hearts to find the Jesus they so desperately need, living there. When that happens, it is amazing how effective He is at drawing them to Himself!