It’s not a new thought. It is a matter I have been thinking about and wrestling through for a long time.
And it would be something I discussed recently with a good friend at great length about.
How we are doing church matters.
Probably now more than ever before.
According to a recent Barna Group study, the number of non-practicing Christians is rising while the number of practicing Christians is declining.
Non-practicing Christians grew to 43% in 2020, while during that same time, “Christians” declined to 25%. The result is, undoubtedly, Christians still need help navigating their faith.
In addition, weekly church attendance has declined from 45% in 1993, to 29% in 2020.
While we can make a good arguments that this is all pandemic-related, the “return to numbers” following the reopening of many churches nationwide, has proven that attendance of a place of worship is not a priority for a growing number of those who follow Jesus Christ.
While so much of this is affected by the current state of our country, it is important to key in on some reasons we see much of this happening - especially as it relates to Boomers and Millennials.
I was telling friends recently that sometimes it feels like I am trying to answer a question that no one is asking.
And I wonder if the same might be true for the church.
I don’t have the answers.
Not all of them, anyway.
But I have some thoughts.
I think we’ve lost our way.
I think what worked 20 years ago, doesn’t work anymore.
I think “relevance” isn’t enough.
I remember walking into a church when we first moved to Indiana almost 2 years ago.
We visited the “cool” bookstore, bought some “cute” little trinkets and some seemingly innocent “self-help” books, made our way to the coffee shop to purchase our “hip” coffee in the ever-contemporary coffee cup made from recycled material, gave an appropriate donation to the missionaries overseas in the very area represented by the coffee we were being served by the adorable beanie-wearing barista who said things like, “Nah, you’re good”, and signed with our finger on an iPad for our purchase.
My daughter happily “checked in” on Instagram, tagging the church, and us, her parents, to the post.
As the countdown began, the worship team made their way to the stage and the excitement was building for what had the potential of being our new “church home.”
And then it happened.
Red lights illuminated the stage.
Fog from machines filled the atmosphere.
And 3 “back-up vocalists” appeared behind the leader who’d made her way up front to center-stage.
It was kind of strange to see it, but the sea of people we sat alongside of seemed preoccupied with something else as well… their phones. It was as if they knew something we didn’t, or like perhaps we’d missed the memo giving instructions to a secret code we were unaware of or something.
But on closer examination it seemed to be a mental absorption they were all consumed by. I saw apps open to Facebook and Instagram almost simultaneously and collaboratively. And there were many photos “snapped” as the band began to play.
I recognized the song at once.
A familiar Adele tune.
“Rumor has it.”
At first I wondered what on earth the song could have to do with the message of salvation.
What kind of lyrics like, “She ain’t real, she ain’t gon’ be able to love you like I will, She is a stranger. You and I have history, or don’t you remember? Sure, she’s got it all, but baby, is that really what you want?”, had anything to do with the Holy Spirit and the bride of Christ.
It was more than strange.
It was a disgrace.
As the vocalists - with swinging hips in their skinny jeans continued on - I immediately sank in despair.
And shook my head as my daughter immediately deleted her post from 3 minutes prior, un-documenting her visit.
And I get it.
You’re trying to be “relevant.”
You’re tying to compete with the things of this world.
You’re attempting to make Jesus more “palpable” to broken people.
But I would come home immediately from that experience, heartbroken.
I mean, honestly, the message may have been good.
I don’t remember.
I was lost in the concert performance, and checked out emotionally long before the opening prayer.
And here’s the facts from where I sit:
People are drawn to Jesus, not to church.
So if Jesus doesn’t have a place in our house of worship, we’ll never get them to authentically desire to be there.
Relevant means this = bearing upon, or connected with the matter at hand; pertinent; suitable, fitting, lending aid or support.
We’re trying desperately to be “relevant” to a fallen world who’s god is the enemy himself, Satan.
By bringing in cool, hip, secular music, we’re saying the Gospel message of salvation is not enough by itself. And in attempt to “stand out”, we’re simply “blending in.”
We’re frightened that those we’re trying to “reach” will ultimately choose another way, and so we must adorn ours with pretty bells and whistles.
Yet aren’t we the ones who are called to, “be holy because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16). Holy here is just another word from “set apart.”
First John 2:15 says this, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
Are we missing the mark?
We are not in need of, “wining over the culture” to bring people to Christ, as John MacArthur said recently in an interview at his church, Grace To You, in California. Surprisingly the same church who might’ve been considered, “highly irrelevant” 5 years ago, saw an approximate 2,100 people increase over the last 12 months - and during covid none-the-less.
I have to guess it’s not because of the glitz and glamour.
There is none.
I would suppose it’s not because of the fog machines and bright lights.
There are none of those either.
And I would venture to guess it’s not the “sermon-in-a-box” they purchased online speaking on self-help topics such as how to be a better parent, how to have a successful marriage, or one more examination of the prodigal son we’ve been exhausted by now for decades.
There are none of these things there.
But the Gospel is preached there.
And not just there, scores of churches all over the country preach the gospel message every week.
But here there are real conversations being had about salvation, love, and mercy. But there, mixed in, are also real issues being talked about - like judgement, hell, and the need for repentance.
I have outgrown the need for relevance.
I need Jesus.
I need a message of hope.
I need to know what the Bible says.
I need to understand what’s coming for those who refuse to live according to their faith.
I need to commune with those who have an urgency for the gospel.
I need to be empowered to live like Jesus did while he was here on the earth.
I heard a pastor say this recently, “The church has always been sucked in to this lie that somehow there is, in the world, a way that the kingdom of darkness can help the kingdom of light.”
And there simply is no way this is possible.
We need absolutely NO help from the world in order to be the church that sinners separated from Jesus are desperate for.
There is nothing in the darkness that is going to help the light.
A return to the world relevant = bearing upon, or connected with the matter at hand; pertinent; suitable, fitting, lending aid or support.
It’s not just a matter of not “needing” to be relevant.
We can’t be relevant.
Because being so would mean we are downplaying the gospel. It would mean we are connecting with the world, making ourselves “suitable” to the world - discounting the fact that we are called to please the Father only, like our Jesus did. (John 8:29).
We forget that Jesus didn’t come to show us how to be accepted and loved by the world by being relevant.
Jesus said things like, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” John 9:39
“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Matt 10:37
And the one who said to Peter after he told Jesus all they had given up to follow Him, “you will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution.” Mark 10:30.
He promised trouble.
Division.
Persecution.
And He demanded the picking up of a torture device to follow Him once the full price of following Him was well calculated.
There must be sufficiency of scripture without the worry of the competing world around us.
We must be okay to be irrelevant if it means faithfully choosing our Lord Jesus every day.
It’s worth thinking about.
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