Our Search For Relevance

There is seldom a day that goes by when we are not bombarded with methods and ideas about how we can better convey the gospel to the lost world around us. We constantly see new Bible translations that are easier to read, and the ways that we communicate are under continual scrutiny as we endeavor to become more “sensitive” to those who have no knowledge of God, or His Word.


While it cannot be denied that communicating the gospel more effectively is beneficial, we must be discerning as to how we go about doing this. We live in a day where “diverse and strange teachings (Heb. 13:9)” have crept into the church and are seemingly drawn from every conceivable source – even sources that are anything but biblical. Things like divine healing, miraculous occurrences, authenticity of Old Testament accounts and even the authority of the Bible itself is questioned by many who claim to be Christians. Some have gone so far as to completely eliminate many words, such as sin, judgment and repentance from our religious vocabulary.

In this religious climate where “relevance” and “social acceptance” seem to be the goal of many Christians, how should we handle the Word of God? What do we say to those who are not Christians, and in what ways do we relate to them?

In conversations and various religious writings we are continually told that Christians are guilty of using religious terms and ideas that are above those who do not know Jesus Christ, and that those terms need to be replaced with something that they will more readily understand. Is that really our problem? With biblical illiteracy a major problem among professing Christians it is very difficult to believe that the biggest problem we face is talking above what people understand, especially when we consider the fact that Christians with the biblical knowledge to do such a thing are few and far between. When we consider the life and ministry of Jesus, do we really see such a concern with making the gospel palatable to the people of the world? Did Jesus ever compromise so that people around Him would listen to the doctrines of God?



Then the disciples came and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. -Matt. 13:10-17



As we consider the purpose of parables in the teaching of Jesus, it becomes evident that His priority was not to teach the revelation of God in a way that would be appealing, or even understandable, to everyone. In fact, His purpose was to drive away those who did not really have a willing heart, and to draw those who earnestly wanted to know the truth of God. We read in verse 15, “For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed…” The fact that we must deal with is that many just do not want to know the truths of the Kingdom of God. They are content to walk in the darkness of the world. Jesus understood this reality and taught accordingly. He did not spend great amounts of His time trying to convince people of things they would not understand anyway, and did not really care to understand. He understood the message the Apostle Paul would later relay to the church in Corinth. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).”

Jesus did not spend His ministry on earth “convincing” people of the work of God as much as He spent it “investing” in them. In verse 12 He shows this desire to invest in those with an interest in serving God when He says, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The economy of God’s Kingdom does not function on monetary funds, but on truth. It is subject to the truth that is revealed through Jesus Christ about the character of our King. Much like the economy of the world today, it is much easier for those who already have money to invest. Those who do not have sufficient funds must save what little they have in case of an emergency. Jesus spent His time on earth investing in those who were willing to invest themselves in the work and the truth of God. Jesus used parables to teach those whose hearts were willing to seek God’s truth above all else. This is why He taught, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt. 6:33).” When our hearts are open to what God is revealing through His Word and by His Spirit we will continue to see His investment in us, but if our eyes are closed, our ears do not hear, and our hearts are not willing to invest in His Kingdom we will not see or understand the power of God at work in and around us. God’s truth must come first, because it is the currency of His Kingdom, and it will lead us into a deeper relationship with our King. Oswald Chambers teaches the extent to which we must seek the truth of God:



“Our Lord teaches that the one great secret of the spiritual life is concentration on God and His purposes. We talk a lot about consecration, but it ends in sentimentalism because there is nothing definite about it. Consecration ought to mean the definite yielding of ourselves over as saved souls to Jesus and concentrating on that…God can do what He likes with the man or woman who is abandoned to Him. God saves us and sanctifies us, then He expects us to concentrate on Him in every circumstance we are in…At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ’s statements are those of a fool, but bring them to the bar of faith and the Word of God, and you begin to find with awestruck spirit that they are the words of God.”



If we understand these words of Jesus, and the teaching of Scripture, we see that the reason people of the world do not understand Scripture has much less to do with our lack of clarity and much more to do with the fact that they are not seeking the truth of God. They are looking to the world and all of its knowledge and ideas to find an understanding of life. They are looking every conceivable place except the source of all truth and knowledge – God. We should have no reason to wonder why the world cannot understand spiritual truth given to us by God. We have no need to “rethink” how we package the gospel, or the words we use to convey it because the Holy Spirit has not been allowed the opportunity to work in the hearts of those with whom we deal. If the Holy Spirit is at work and they are seeking God’s truth then we simply need to allow God to work. “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of you Father speaking through you (Matt. 10:19, 20).” Martyn Lloyd-Jones speaks to this issue:



“Is it not tragic? Is this what is keeping people from Christ? Do you think that people two hundred years ago knew anything more about justification and sanctification than they do today? Were those the common terms of a thousand years ago? Is that the difficulty? No, it is the heart of man, it is the evil that is in him. It is not a question of language, it is not a question of terminology, yet we pin our faith to this.”



In our search for “relevance” in our modern world we have placed our faith in many things. We look to marketing agencies, and cultural trends. Many have placed their faith in sociological studies and statistics. From the pages of Holy Scripture comes the truth that¸”The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you (2 Chron. 15:2).” The purpose of the parables of Jesus Christ was relevance. Not relevance to a sinful culture, or to those who wanted an easy way out of the lives with which they had become accustomed. The purpose was to invest in those who were willing to seek God. Jesus taught in parables so that the “mysteries” of the Kingdom of God would become relevant to any and all who desired to know them. As we look at the parables of the Kingdom we must remember that as we earnestly seek the truth of God, He will reveal Himself to us in ways we have never known.

Passing On Our Curses

In Scripture names were given with a purpose.  When given by God they described the work that He intended to do in the lives of those whom He used for His purposes.  The children of Hosea and Gomer were used by God to show the transgression of the people of Israel.  Not only was their mother an adulterous woman (some translations say a woman of "whoredom"), but the consequences of her unfaithful lifestyle were passed onto her children.  This is evident by the names they were given (see Hosea 1:3-8).  Gomer seemed to be willing to live a lifestyle that gave no consideration to the legacy and consequences she might have been passing on to the next generation.

I wonder if we are not guilty of this in the church today.  It seems like we are very willing to compromise the Word of God and don't really even need a good reason or explanation to do so.  We know what it says about specific things and just ignore it.  What does that say about our faith?  Or, more importantly, about our view of God? 

We have become willing to compromise our reliance on God's power to the point that we could accurately say that we have turned our backs on Him.  Rather than relying on the power of God the church relies on business models, church growth programs, meetings and brainstorming sessions, and whatever idea we believe might "sell our product."  We even go so far as to cancel worship services and prayer meetings to go into the community and do good works for those of the world in hopes that we can bribe them into listening to the gospel someday. The problem is that none of this is portrayed in Scripture.  It all comes from the mind of man.

The problem with all of this (besides the obvious issue that our relationship with God is compromised because we are idolizing the mind of man) is that we are passing on a curse to future generations.  Like the children of Hosea, the church is being given a name that gives little hope for a vital relationship with God in the future.  When our focus is not spiritual, but on good works and material things then the next generation of the church will become focused on all those things.  Rather than being the church of God (or the church focused on God) we become the "community church" (which is rightly name when the focus is not on God).  I am not saying that we forget about the great commission.  We are all called to win the lost.  But to what do we win them?  Community service organizations?

It seems that in all of the meetings and brainstorming that we have we forget about one great truth.  It's God's church!  It is not our responsibility to organize or administrate it.  We are simply to seek God's will and submit to it.  The church is a far cry from seeking, much less submitting to anything other than our own ideas based on cultural whims.  We are doing everything in our power to pass on a curse. 

Sometimes it seems like the only hope that remains for the coming generations is that even in spite of the circumstances that were passed on to them God can still redeem.  He can still call the willing heart back to Him.  God can overcome the curses passed on from one generation to the next, but only God can.  But He shouldn't always have to.  It would be far better for the next generation if the curse of a church that has committed "whoredom" with the idols of the world had turned back to God before the consequences of her sin were passed on in the first place.

Building In Truth

At that time Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, “an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool. -Joshua 8:30, 31 (ESV)


When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. -1 Kings 6:7 (ESV)

When I was growing up I used to build model cars. Each one had different parts, and there was specific way all those parts went together. If the models were going to be assembled properly they had to be put together according to the instructions that came in the box. If you read closely, the instructions for most of the things we build say that ALL OF THE DIRECTIONS should be read before the project begins. This was no exception. The most difficult model I ever build was the one that had black paint spilled on the instructions. I had a pretty good idea where the parts should go, but did not know exactly how to make them fit together the proper way.

In some ways, the church is like the model cars from my childhood. God has revealed His will to His people through Scripture, and guides us in Scripture through His Holy Spirit. They are God’s “witnesses” (Rev. 11) to us today. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ will build HIS church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). But what does that church look like? How do we know the ways the church should function and interact with the world? We know through the inspired Word of God.

When God instructed His people to build He gave them instruction for what to build and how to build it. When Moses built the tabernacle God commanded Him to build it, “exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle…” (Ex. 25:9) There was no room for Moses or any of the craftsmen to make any modifications, or to personalize their work - it had to be done in accordance with God’s holy character. Every instruction was given by God to specifically suit the needs of the work of God. The church today is not so much different from those Old Testament buildings. This building may be spiritual in nature, but God gave specific instruction for its structure, nonetheless. We find this instruction by devising plans and gaining vision regarding the church from the Word of God and prayer. We do not do the work of the church based on the ideas, the tools, or even the resources of man. If what we are building is the church of God it MUST be done according to His plan.

Despite the ideas that are promoted within the professing church today, the Bible is still the Word and the rule of God. It is where His character is revealed to us, and the place from which His teachings proceed. Sometimes we seem to feel as though we can pick and choose which doctrine (yes, I said doctrine because it’s important) we will follow and which we will ignore. We explain away differences and variances as if they make no difference whatsoever. Os Guiness tells us, “If truth is truth then differences make a difference.” If God is going to use us to build His New Testament temple then it is imperative that we “see that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain (Hebrews 8:5).”

For too many years we have attempted to build the temple of God with tools of iron. We have used our gimmicks and our ideas, our books and our knowledge. We spend our time seeking out the “brightest and best” rather than humbling ourselves before the Lord so that we may be exalted (James 4:10). There are catalogs and web sites filled with ideas about what WE CAN DO to see the church grow. We plan and organize and work until we just cannot work anymore, and at the end of the day, what has it done for the church at large? We have pastors and laity who are completely burned out. We have as much immorality, divorce, and sin within the ranks of the perceived “church” as there is in the world.

If the day is ever going to come when the church rises up to be the mighty army of God, it will be when the man-made tools of iron are cast out of our midst, and we simply bow ourselves before a holy God, consecrate ourselves to Him and let Him sanctify us for His work (1 Thess. 4:3). It is time the church cease its work with our self-fabricated tools and to get “Back to the Blessed Old Bible.” For too many years the sounds of our hammers and chisels have rang out in the temple. The clanging of our iron tools has done little good and has only served to drown out the “still, small voice” of God (1 Kings 19:12). It has hidden and obscured His direction and turned our attention to things of the world.

Scripture tells us, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).” If God is building the structure, He will provide the tools. The problem we face today is that too many people within the church want to be architects and builders rather than stones. God is building His church. He is building it on a foundation of holiness and truth. If we are to be a part of God’s building, we must put off the tools of man and stand simply on His truth.

Does Truth Still Matter?

I was recently reading a blog that commented on a publication put out by a group that wants to emphasize the importance of doctrine.  The critique of this periodical was that it looks like something that comes from the 1970's, and "no one under 40 would take this seriously." 

Am I the only one that finds this idea offensive?  I am under 40 and am far more interested in truth than the flashy presentation of a magazine.  Is this how the younger generation is perceived?  Do those who are leading us really believe that we will respond only to something that looks good whether it contains substance or not? 

Scripture tells us to "buy the truth (Prov. 23:23)."  There are some people who not only believe that, but make every effort to find the truth that God wants to reveal to us.  Far too many times the church has compromised truth in an effort to gain popularity with the "younger" generation.  Here's some advice from someone of this generation.  JUST TEACH THE TRUTH!  Young people are growing weary of listening to politicians pontificate and beat around the bush when they are supposed to simply teach us what God is revealing through His Word.

The culture around us changes with each generation.  I do not dispute that.  But the truth will never change.  It is reliable and relevant to every culture and every generation.  We are spending our time and resources trying to "repackage" something that God has ordained and empowered.  Why?

What Do We Value?

One of the most prominent topics in the church today is leadership.  We have all kinds of ideas about what we expect from leaders.  What kind of character they should possess, and what kind of training they should have.  We go to seminars and read books and articles about it.  There are hundreds of lists of the traits that we must develop in leaders if the church is to be successful.  As I read these lists its seems that I continually find one trait that is left out: Holiness.

Titus 1:8 tells us that and "elder" must be HOLY.  Paul also gave this instruction to Timothy in regards to leaders (1 Tim. 3:10).  The trend that continues within the church is that we look to the world to see how leaders should be developed, and how they should act.  I have taken college courses on church leadership where the textbooks are secular.  Every chance we get we seem to want to act like the world.

What happened to the standards that God set in place for leaders?  Where is the requirement of holiness?  It seems like the church is more worried about the talents that people possess than we are about the holy life that they live.  Here is my contention:  If we live the lifestyle taught in the Bible God will empower us to be the leaders we need to be.  Is it possible that trying to develop leaders in worldly ways is a misplaced priority in the church?  Is it possible that by not focusing on holiness (without which no man will see the Lord) we are wasting our time on peripheral things?

The Necessity of Fellowship

"Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."  -Genesis 2:18

Adam was the pinnacle of God's creation.  Created in the very image of a holy God.  He lived in the place that God had created for him and lived in harmony and fellowship with God.  In spite of all this, God still saw a need for man to have someone else.  Someone with whom he could share his joys and all the things of life.  God created man with a need for fellowship.

So often I hear people say, "I don't need to go to church to be a Christian." Where does this idea come from?  What makes us think that we do not need relationships with the people of God?  God had looked at all that He had created and proclaimed it to be good.  But for man there was something even better.  It was a relationship with others.  It was fellowship.

We sometimes look at fellowship as simply having a meal together or spending a little bit of time together.  It is so much more.  God created us to share with one another our joys and our burdens.  Our sorrows, trials and triumphs.  God has put us all here together to pursue Him alongside of each other.  We are not alone as we seek to know Him.  We are always accompanied by other people who are in pursuit of the holiness of God just as we are.  Too much of the Christianity of our day is focused on "what God can do for me" and not living in a fellowship of holiness together.  As I search Scripture for the meaning of the fellowship that God has given us, I become increasingly convinced that it is so much more than what we often experience.  God has placed us here so that we might experience holiness together.

"But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another..." -1 John 1:7

The Departure of the Spirit

King Saul had as much potential to do great thing for God as anyone in human history.  He was hand-picked by God to lead the people of Israel.  He was anointed by God's prophet and guided by God's word.  The story of Saul, however, is largely one of wasted potential.  In spite of all that God had done to prepare him, scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 16:14, "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul..." 

Whether we like it or not, we must acknowledge that the Spirit left Saul because of his half-hearted commitment to following the commands of God.  He wanted God's will to be done, but he wanted to do it his way.  He was not interested in the instruction God had given in regards to HOW to follow His will.  This seems to be the case within the church today.  We read and write our books and come up with our slick organizations and marketing schemes.  We know that God wants us to win the lost, but we have determined within our hearts to leave Him out of the process.  We want nothing more than to o it by ourselves.  We all work hard to apply the principles of "Natural Church Development" (I still contend that we need "supernatural church development because if it is natural, it's not of God) and every other book that comes along, but is God's will really being done?  I keep hearing from the same people who promote these man-made methods that the vast majority of congregations are in decline.  What good have all of our methods done?

Maybe it's time that we consider the possibility that we have fallen into the trap of King Saul.  In spite of the availability of power through the Holy Spirit, God's call to holiness, and His written word, we continue to try to do His work our way.  As we forge ahead with our plans the church continues to lose influence and authority.  Could it be that in many cases the Spirit has already left and we are so focused on our ideas that we haven't even noticed?

Maybe instead of trying to figure out what WE can do for God, we need to spend some time considering how we can recover our lampstand.