Many Christians believe that making the gospel relevant for our times will attract people to the church. Trying to “meet people where they live” is just what Jesus did, so this should be a good approach. Yet, judging by the dwindling numbers of those attending church, there must be something wrong with the drive for relevance.
The flaw of the relevance approach is when they change the message to meet the needs of the day. This takes the focus off the truth of Jesus. His message is eternal, in that it always meets the needs of the day, no matter what day it is. We always need love, always need faith, and always need hope. This is what Jesus has to offer, and it’s always relevant.
What people need is not a customized message for the day, which will loose power as conditions change. It’s not relevance that’s needed, but truth.
CJ Penn's Online Writing Hangout 
September 12, 2014 at 1:15 pm
This is so true! Being relevant doesn’t mean changing the words to convey a different thought! I once had a discussion with an associate pastor about something in the Bible. When I pointed out the actual writings (in Hebrew) translated to something understood completely different than his King James interpretation, his response was, “I’m American, I speak English, I don’t care what the Hebrew translations says!”
I stopped arguing and shook my head. He is a LEADER of the church. A LEADER that doesn’t know that the Bible wasn’t written in English originally. Sad state.
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September 12, 2014 at 1:23 pm
Hi halipawz, thanks for your thoughts.
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September 13, 2014 at 10:39 pm
Amen. By trying to make the Gospel relevant, they make it irrelevant for a world in need, a world hungry for the truth.
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September 14, 2014 at 10:57 am
“… a world hungry for the truth.” I really this captures the spiritual environment. Thanks for your thoughts.
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