Most of the articles that I write often end up addressing Christianity in the modern culture. Any mature Christian or church leader would like for Christianity to make a difference in both the individual and corporate lives of his or her nation. As one chaplain of a university said we need to be “relevant.”
And I do agree that in every culture and in every time, there is the danger that Christianity will not be relevant and become meaningless or even harmful to the culture that it is in.
Over the last 50 years that I have observed Christianity in America we have attempted to try to be helpful and relevant. We've attempted to try to present a Jesus that is good and loving and helpful not judgmental, mean, and harmful. There are a lot of hurting people out there, so it makes perfect sense that we want to offer what Christ offered to Israel in his ministry on the earth by healing, casting out demons, providing for their needs and salvation. Since this is what Jesus did this is what we should do.
But unfortunately, we have been so busy trying to be helpful and relevant that we have not been helpful or relevant. As the old saying goes, if you try to please everybody you will please nobody, and no phrase could express the ministry of the church in America in the last couple of decades than this one.
Our desire to be relevant has been coupled with the religious humanist desire for Christianity to be wiped out from the face of the earth. It started out in universities as a subtle intellectual snobbery against anyone who was religious and has moved into socialism and outright hostility and persecution of the church.
In face of this the American church has attempted to show that we are not all the things that we were accused of by the religious humanists by attempting to be more helpful and relevant. And again, attempting to be more helpful and relevant we become less helpful and less relevant and more disrespected by the religious humanist culture around us.
It is time to create a new policy in the American church. We need to stop apologizing for being Christians. We need to stop attempting to try to explain our every motive, action, and belief. The religious humanist culture does not condescend themselves to the place of doing that. They practice their beliefs and live their faith without apology and with a harsh word of rebuke for anyone who would dare to question them.
It is time that the American church started making waves. It is time to start rocking the boat. We will become relevant when we offer a solid alternative to the ridiculous, unworkable humanism that it is now the prevailing religion in the United States.
We should know our faith, believe our faith, and live our faith. The only people that should be reasoned with are those who sincerely interested in the meaning and motive of Christianity. Please understand that secular and religious humanist will never be talked into believing the Christian faith until they choose to do what we did and repent of their sins and accept the love and grace of God.
My family and I spend a lot of time in the country taking walks and driving down country roads. We often have small animals like squirrels run out on the road. I always attempt to stop keep from hitting these animals because I think it is a sin to kill one intentionally. But sometimes it happens because the squirrel gets in middle of the road and can't decide which way to go. The church in America has been and undecided squirrel for too long.
The church in America is losing on some fronts because we allow the opposition to play by different set of rules than they demand of us. The first job of the Church is to proclaim truth not reason truth. Truth proclaimed will be excepted or rejected as each sees fit.
The Church in America needs to revise its road crossing policy, because if we don’t, we will not only not be relevant we will not longer exist.
