Many churches and their leaders are evaluating to see if their ministry is relevant. Many individual Christians are asking themselves if their personal testimony and ministry is relevant. While this is a very important evaluation which needs to take place often personally and corporately, we want to make sure our focus is not on the buzz word instead of what it means. There are people who seem to be more interested in being labeled relevant than doing what the Lord has equipped and prepared them to do and actually meeting the needs of the people around them. Some look at relevance as fitting in. I look at relevance as seeing the current issues and needs and allowing the Lord to use me to address those situations and meet those needs. Let's explore a few things about being relevant.
Being relevant is not the same thing as numerical growth. Numerical growth can be a byproduct of being relevant, but so can a deep spiritual growth with little increase in numerical growth. There are churches, and believers alike, that are more focused on numerical growth than anything else. They think that if their attendance numbers are increasing, they must be doing something right and therefore they are relevant. There are many things that can cause attendance to increase in a church, including things that may not be in line with what the Lord is trying to do in and through a local body of believers. Having an extremely dynamic speaker can bring people in, however not every dynamic speaker is sharing the true Word of God. This has been a long time problem, even in God's people. Spend a few minutes in Ezekiel 13 or Matthew 23 to see what I mean. Having great fellowship opportunities can also draw many people in and you can use the opportunity to share the gospel, but it doesn’t necessarily meet the current needs of society or bring more into the kingdom of God.
Being relevant is a byproduct of being genuine. If you are more focused on genuinely loving people in the name of Christ, and meeting their needs as Jesus instructed us to in Matthew 25, you will be relevant without even knowing what relevant means. When we allow the Lord to make us what He wants us to be and allow Him to equip and prepare us, we can be ourselves and meet the needs of those around us, and thus be genuine. If we are genuinely concerned with where folks find themselves financially in this time of economic crisis and help them in a meaningful way, which is different for each situation, we will be relevant. If we look at our community as Jesus looked over Jerusalem and genuinely weep for it, we will become relevant without trying. If we remember first that every person was created by God for a relationship with God and we genuinely treat every person that way instead of judging them for their decisions, we will be relevant. Yes folks, I do mean every person.
Relevance looks different for every community and people group. You can't use a cookie cutter approach and be relevant. Different communities and different people groups face different challenges and successes. What works to reach out and meet the needs of a large city does not necessarily work in the suburbs. The ideas and methods of a church of 1200 do not necessarily help a church of 40 and the same holds true in the opposite direction. The things that help bring the gospel to a farmer in rural America do not necessarily work to bring the gospel to someone who has never seen a dirt road. The common denominator is being genuine in Christ. You must get to know the people around you where they are at. You must build relationships with them and genuinely love them and have concern for them. Yes, ultimately for their soul, but also for their current temporal situations too.
When you are genuine in Christ and allow the Lord to prepare you and listen to His voice you become relevant and everything else will fall into place.
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