Staying Clear of Being Irrelevant

Being relevant has little to do with adapting to the culture of the day or adapting our style to the fads of the day. Jesus was relevant because He was and still is full of life as God lives life. He genuinely loved others and cared more about God's truth and heart than the earthly wisdom which governed the hearts of the people of the day. Having said that if the ministry of Jesus we see in the Gospels took place in our day I think He would use all forms of modern communication and social media to get the message of the gospel of God's grace out to the masses. Thank God many expressions of church are waking up to the need to engage with society using all sorts of methodologies to mobilise Christians and get the message of God's love out there. As long as your method is birthed in God, is full of the life of His Spirit and it is not promoted by attacking or depreciating other methods then go for it.

The ability to meet the needs of people in every way in whatever generation will always be relevant.

We have all of heaven as a resource base and being at home moving in the supernatural love and power of God has timeless relevance to it. The Gospel brings challenges to this generation like every preceding generation. a challenge to self-reliance and independence by accepting a Saviour and the need to belong and also a challenge of who rules  - The God who is Love or our own selfishness. 

By accepting everything in society at large as positive we only find cultural acceptance and inclusion into a liberal community based on the ideology of pluralism. We may be seen as relevant but in that moment we become powerless to help anyone become who God intended them to be. Pluralism is supposed to accept any view and acknowledge its subjective relevance. However absolute grace and truth through the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not acceptable as the truth as all 'truths' are deemed to be relative. What a mixed up world where the only message and lifestyle (the Gospel and the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus) that brings purpose, security, freedom and inexhaustible possibilities to humankind is seen to be irrelevant!

If the communities of Christians around the UK want to be of eternal relevance then let us stick to what we know works without being intimidated by the bullish shouts of liberal philosophy and the sarcastic jibes of neo-atheism. The Gospel of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is still the power of God to wholeness and salvation for everyone who believes (Rom 1:16). It is still relevant today and we need to ask the Father to give us fresh confidence in our message. St Francis of Assisi never ever said "Preach the Gospel all the time and if you must use words". St Francis was a prolific preacher of the Gospel! Let this message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ constantly be preached and chatted about, witnessed to, and discussed with miracles, signs and wonders pursuing it. May this message make us to be signs, miracles and wonders as the children of our God. Let us not cast away our confidence in who we are in Christ and who Christ is in us to fit in with a culture of mediocrity that pressures us to conform to its pattern of short term gain and eternal destruction. 

If we want to really stay clear of being irrelevant than I would suggest we need to rediscover who we really are and let our Gospel flourish in our hearts and through our mouths and lives. God has given this promise;

"The Gospel of God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles and they will listen." (Acts 28:28)

Another way of stating this would simply be; "The Gospel has been sent to people and it will be relevant to them."

Let us not water down our message of the Gospel of Grace to please the religious legalist or the 'self-made man syndrome' behind much atheism. We were not created to blend in and try to be relevant to cultural norms we were created to blaze trails, to break new ground to journey on paths yet to be worn down. We are created in Love, for Love and with the message of Love that can transform every person and situation for the good and glory of God.