The Current Journey

RELEVANT...
this the word that has been burned into my mind for the last several weeks. God has been taking me on a journey through was relevancy is. It's a Christian buzzword right now and I hate buzzwords... but I cannot escape the fact that people are attracted to things they can relate to. I am attracted to things that "get me", things that are relevant to me. So where are God and I on this journey... We're in the coffee shop stage. The place where we're just kinda sitting around talking about it... sharing our thoughts... Him telling me when I'm on the right track or way off base. I have to say this is my favorite place to be with God... to me its even more intimate than flat out worship... but its challenging because sometimes He just gives me the answers... "do this"... "don't do that"... "this is My will for you"... And in these situations He lets me talk it out and its more like nudges... Its harder but I feel closer to Him... He feels like a mentor...

Anyway, just a few thoughts on relevancy and then something funny.

1. Cool is not always relevant. - I used to equate the two... so I looked for whatever was cool at the time. Here's the thing about cool. Cool is relative almost down the each individual... Relevant is more about cultural engagement. Its about keep your finger on the pulse of the community not just parts that you can identify with.

2. Cultural Engagement - to engage the culture you must know your community and know your community you must be in the community... I don't mean live in the neighborhood either... IN the community... involvement, contribution, participation, getting dirty. two things about that...
a. the best way to learn from or about something is get your hands dirty and adsorb yourself in to
b. Creditability... (i know its cliche but...) people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care... There's a lot of truth to this...

3. The point of relevancy - finding the most effective avenues to get the gospel from the sanctuary to the streets...

let me go off on a tirade about this... and I'm not a "pastor" any more so I can say this... I'm just a regular church goer... Evangelism is the primary responsibility of the congregation not the pastor... His/her job is to equip and motivate you to reach the lost... Evangelism is not a Sunday morning activity... Evangelism should take place mon-sat in your home and workplace... where you eat... how you drive your car... the way for you cheer for your kids @ soccer games... the way you live your life should evangelize... give people a reason to want to learn what you know...

there's my tirade...

so here is a vid from the Family Force 5 concert at setapart... what was I thinking... hope you enjoy.