Is the Church Relevant?

It is easiest to think church = God, however sometimes we resemble the worst of the world.  The church is seen by many as judgmental, irrelevant, and secluded.  There are some times we learn things about the church, from God’s word.  Other times we learn more from what the world says about the church because it causes a reality check.

Judgmental: My definition of judgmental would be making a decision without considering the facts.  It is natural for us to judge: people, situations, and ideas because judging is how we make decisions (or judgments.)  However we typically do not gather sufficient evidence to make an informed decision, we decide on first impressions.  This is judgmental.  We want people to consider our unique situation and perspective before calling us sinners, we should do the same. 

Irrelevant & Secluded: If something is relevant, it is related to the facts; so the opposite is true for “irrelevant.”  Secluded of course, is being removed or separated from.  Though it may be easier for us to sleep, we cannot ignore the ugly aspects of the world.  First this makes it easier to ignore the ugliness (sin) within ourselves.  Next it makes people believe the Bible has nothing to say, or worse does not apply to a situation.  Some situations may not have a specific verse from the Bible, but sometimes we have to use our minds to apply Christian principles.  Christians have the God of all wisdom, there is no subject we cannot address using the Bible.  The Bible addresses any problem we may come across, because it is the ‘handbook of life.’

Two secular movies sparked most of this “rant”.  “Let it Shine” a Disney TV movie, portrayed a pastor who multiple times in the movie singled out individuals in the congregation, humiliating them in exchange for a few ‘Amen’s.’ We all have sins, and would not appreciate our dirty laundry on display.  “The Blind Side” a movie about the true story of Michael Ohr, a troubled black teen taken in by a Christian family, who eventually went on to play in the NFL.  This movie was singled out by a group of pastors to remove from Lifeway stores because of a couple of lines in the movie.  While I do not want my children repeating the lines in question, the movie expresses a good message to watchers.  The world is not spic and span, so I feel the more we try to portray the church as such, we lose credibility.  Jesus came to seek and save dirty sinners, however we tend to run and hide in our churches from them.  Let us not be described with these words.