Relevance or Faithfulness?, 1

Link: Together for the Gospel.

I found this post today and would recommend it.  It a helpful beginning of the discussion.  I would add that I think we have made a false dichotomy here.  The issue is not faithfulness or relevance -- indeed the Gospel is always relevant when presented faithfully. 

I think the issue is this: are we doing everything we can to explain the Gospel faithfully in terms most readily understood by our hearers?  Are we seeking to remove every obstacle except the cross?  Are we diligent in laboring at illustration and explanation that answers the questions and thoughts of the secular people around us?  We no longer share a common vocabulary with our culture -- we must go the extra mile to explain our ideas.  This was the passion of Paul as a missionary to the Gentiles.  Repeating biblical and theological terms is not faithfulness to the Gospel -- speaking the Gospel without clarity is not faithfulness to the Gospel.

On the other hand fooling around with "image" is cheap relevance.  The seeker version of relevance is superficial.

I think real relevance is simple: know and love people who are not believers.  Love is always relevant.  Here is a plan.  Pastors -- let's get out of our study's and go be with people.  I would suggest every pastor get to know unbelievers and spend time asking them questions -- to learn about their perceptions. Ask your people to ask unbeliever's questions -- so we can stop sterotyping them and know their real objections. So we can use words and concepts to explain biblical truth in a way that makes sense.  Stop reading statistics and know people.  That will fuel your preaching so you are as clear as possible.

Comments

[DLE]

Mark,

Awesome post. I, too, get tired of the false dichotomies so many set up in order to make their point. Rarely are things so simple. In fact, always falling into an either/or mentality ducks the issue altogether. It's too cheap,never leading to any real progress or growth in the long run.

You're also totally correct in saying that love is always relevant. I don't understand why loving others is such a touchy subject with some folks. The only time they want to call on love is when they're rebuking someone "in love." Never has the definition of "love" meant so little to so many Christians!

Thanks!

[Brian Mann]

I have benefited by reading both your post and the T4G post. I think we need to be careful however to not let the lost determine our actions in ministry. And that the balance that T4G calls for seems very biblical. So, that's my two cents, hopefully it does not put unwarranted criticism upon anyone, but only biblical challenge.

[Justin Buzzard]

Mark,

Thank you. That's a very helpful response to Dever's post.

Right now (two weeks before I begin at CPC) I'm trying to develop some good habits and spend a good deal of time in the local coffee shops and resturaunts as I plan, pray, and study for this new ministry.
I appreciate your blog. It is/will be a help to me as I seek to communicate the gospel to the young adults of the Mid Peninsula.

[DanD]

I agree that it faithfulness and relevance is a false dichotomy, though the practice is not. There are many who seek to connect and communicate in a relelvant way (contextualize) who end up giving up content. And there are many who seek faithfulness so much that they can not connect in any meaningful way to those who are different.

Your suggestion of knowing and loving lost people is so to the point. It follows on Edwards on true virtue--because caring for others really is good. And even lost people are people.

Real live people, in real live time is God's way of helping us to be both faithful and relevant.

MSL: very good