Relevant

Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you? Maybe you fell, collided with someone or something, or simply got sucker punched. That resulting feeling of needing air—and needing it now—is hardly enjoyable.

Imagine if, in that moment, someone approached you and cautiously attempted to explain the relevance of air to your livelihood. For fear of giving offense, this person might first spend 10 minutes assuring you of his understanding that you may not realize air is relevant. And for good measure, he might toss in a Game of Thrones reference, just to keep your attention and eventually persuade you that air is something that might benefit your life, provided it’s properly packaged. 

Meanwhile, you’re gasping. 

Sadly, this is much of the church today.  We have the Word of God, which is air to the suffocating, healing to broken bodies and souls, and life for the dying. 

But instead of meeting the needs of the broken, we plaster our church marquees with cute sayings meant to convey that we’re not dull and stuffy—we can be “relevant” and have fun, too!

But if we truly believed the power of the Word we proclaim, we wouldn’t preach “relevance”: We would preach the Word.

Our signs would advertise freedom, hope, and healing in Jesus.  

If we truly recognized the brokenness surrounding us and understood that we can offer not simply a feel-good way of coping but life itself, we would abandon our manic quest for relevance and instead run to offer hope to whomever will listen. 

Because a suffocating person gasps for just one thing: air. 

 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes….  Romans 1:16