Cultural Relevance in a Changing World (part 2 of 3) 4 Things we need to do.
An address to the 7th Annual National Multicultural Conference of the Presbyterian Church (USA). May 27th, 2006.
So, St. Paul’s got an infusion of diversity, and was open enough to welcome it. What happened next was critical. Since most new visitors to churches come by word-of-mouth invitation, the questions became: “Can our members be excited enough to invite others to visit?�, and “What do we look like to an outsider?�
In my view, there are four things that churches need to do to survive in this changing world. And that’s what we’re really talking about here, the survival of our churches. We’ve seen the demographic projections and know that if we’re struggling to seem relevant to a population that still resembles us now, how will we ever be relevant to a population with the demographics projected for 2020 and beyond?
Let’s set aside for the moment the fact that what we really should be talking about is the survival of Christ’s church, not of our churches. That’s another topic entirely.
For our churches to survive there are four things we need to do. I say “we� because, yes, St. Paul’s will cease to be relevant and die, unless we continue and/or enhance our efforts in these four areas. We may outlast a few others, but our demise will by just as sure.
Embrace Change
The first, as we’ve discussed, is promoting a culture of change. Now our Pastor is a “crusty old bird, very set in his ways� (as I am certain he would tell you himself), but he has an acute sense for the moving wind of the Holy Spirit. A number of times I have seen him, at a critical juncture, frown, almost sniff the air, and stick up a spit-moistened finger to sense the direction of God’s calling. He is not afraid to change the set of his sails at the stirring of the Holy Spirit. But, we will need to learn to change constantly to survive and thrive in the future.
Missional Ethos
To the second point, you will recall that I declined to show you a bunch of “diversity� pictures of St. Paul’s folks. The main reason is that I just don’t believe that diversity for its own sake has any relevance to Christ.
Christ did not call us to be diverse. He called us to love our neighbor. Yes, the neighbor we greet on Sunday morning when instructed to do so by the pastor, but also the neighbor at home who parks his car in front of your driveway; or doesn’t pick up after his dog; or cuts the lawn too close to my house, so my yard looks smaller and his looks bigger – hypothetically, of course. Christ said he would be with us “to the end of the age� and we would “be his witness to the end of the pew�? Or was it “to the end of the church driveway�?
To be relevant to a broad cross-section of the un-believing public, which is more important: how diverse we are in here, or the breadth and diversity of the people we touch out there? Rather than fighting to hold on to what we have, we should be on fire trying to give ourselves away to every part of the spectrum. Hey, I think there’s even a verse about getting repaid tenfold.
Now, St. Paul’s is very supportive of mission work locally and globally. We give generously, whether it is to provide food to the hungry in one rural community, or backpacks and school supplies to poor students in a local school, or to build a church/school building in a poor mountain community in Haiti, or to pay the salary of local ministry workers in Nicaragua. We support mission workers in fields in Africa so dangerous that we are forbidden to mention the workers by name, for fear of their very lives.
Yet, are we so good at sending money and missionaries, that we neglect the call to be missionaries in our own neighborhoods and towns?
To be relevant in a changing world, we must develop and missional ethos. Because, when it comes to the gospel, it really is about them and not us. Instead of tailoring our services and our culture to make our lives comfortable, we should develop a culture that forces us to go out and make their lives livable; even if it makes us uncomfortable.
