Why Your Church Shouldn't Be Relevant

Despite what anybody has told you, a culturally relevant church is not what your city, town, or context needs. And, just because your pastor wears skinny jeans, drinks craft beer, and preaches from his iPad, this doesn’t mean that your church is relevant. The church and its leadership might be cool, edgy and different and it’s probably even attracting hipster, home-brewing, techies. But does this really make a church relevant?

What are churches and pastors saying when they say they want to be “culturally relevant?”

If you’d allow me the liberty to break Canadian culture down into two broad categories, I would suggest:

1. The Marketplace – characterized by hard work, a drive for success, advancement, diligence, excellence, self-evaluation, and discipline.
2. Leisure & Entertainment – characterized by celebrities, PVR’s, vacations, Hockey Night in Canada, ease, consumption, and glass of Mike’s, a hammock, and Angry Birds.

By in large, when churches and leaders talk about being culturally relevant, what they are really saying is that they are trying to be “leisure and entertainment relevant.” Add to this, rarely is it well done. When pastors and leaders chase after this type of church relevance, which often happens in the name of missional, we very well may be hindering what God wants to do in our church and city. Author Hugh Halter makes the comment:

In most cases the church environments we've created fosters softness that hinders growth and involvement in God's mission.

I couldn’t agree more. The cultural values of hard work, endurance, reflection, hardship, and diligence don’t seem to be landing in our churches. This is especially problematic among our men. In particular, I believe it alienates those men who live in a hard-nosed, fast-paced work environment where anything worthwhile requires sacrifice. The temptation is to make church and Christianity easy, palatable, and without much consequence. The reality is, not many people live a world like this and when they hear this kind of Gospel, it just doesn’t make sense.

Churches shouldn’t be culturally relevant, anyhow. If we are to be relevant to anything, it would be to the person and work of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Instead of the culturally relevant church, what I would propose is that the Church be Biblically relevant and culturally appropriate.

Missiologist Ed Stetzer writes that Christian engagement with culture means knowing what bits of culture to adopt, to adapt, and to reject. There are many parts of culture that simply are not relevant to the church. As Christians, we must think more Biblically and then work out how life and mission intersect appropriately with culture. Inevitably, this will take a church much deeper into culture. It will help the church better communicate appropriately, and now, instead of your church being discipled by culture, your church is discipling, transforming, redeeming, and loving the culture it has found itself in.

To my culturally savvy, cool, hip and urban ministry friends and partners, what do you think are the marks and traits of a Biblically relevant, culturally appropriate church?

This post was originally posted here May 23, 2011 and includes an interesting comment section worth reading and adding to. 

-Jer

How To Measure Discipleship?

Reggie McNeal in his book Missional Renaissance suggests the primary way discipleship is most often measured is:

1. How much (you give),
2. How often (you participate), and
3. How many (other’s are doing the same).

When we measure the discipleship process by participation rather than maturation, we’re leading and pastoring poorly. What do you think? Do you stand at the back of a Sunday gathering with a clipboard and a checklist? Or do you only mentally do it during staff meetings?

• “Johnny Youth Group just bowed in worship, he is really moving up as a disciple. Check.”
• “Oh look, Johnny Youth Group just dropped an envelope in the plate as it went by. Remind me to investigate whether his giving is generous and sacrificial. Partial check.”
• “Johnny Youth Group just signed up to be a student leader! That’s great. Let’s give him two check marks for that.”
• “Johnny Youth Group missed church last week. Minus one check mark.”
• “Johnny Youth Group's dad drinks beer with his co-workers. Minus one check mark + minus two check marks because we probably shouldn't be hosting youth group at his house.”
• “Johnny Youth Group just completed the third round of discipleship classes. Great job! We forgive the beer-thing.Check.”
• “Johnny Youth Group brought a friend to church. Two checks (and maybe a video testimony).”
• “Johnny Youth Group declines video testimony. Minus one.”

Discipleship is not marked by people’s participation, busyness, or activity. In fact, very often it is the busyness of church and youth ministry activity that actually slows discipleship development in people. Simply, participation does not equal maturation.

I wonder then, what are the things we should measure if we were going to measure Christian maturation?

Jeremy Postal is the director of Whistler School, a bible and discipleship school based out of beautiful Whistler, BC. He is passionate about building communities of restoration & creativity with Christ as the focus. You can also catch him regularly on his blog at www.jeremypostal.com or connect via Twitter @JeremyPostal. 

5 Reasons I'm Excited About Youth Ministry in Canada

Hi there. 

My name is Jeremy Postal and I’m new to this little corner of the interweb. It’s good to be here and thanks for reading; I’m really hoping we’ll have the chance to connect at some point and share together our insights on student ministry in Canada.

In approaching my first blog post for Canadian Youth Worker I thought it’d be good to somehow introduced myself but, as I’ve been sitting here staring at a blank screen, I realize the difficulty of an introduction with me over here and you all the way over there. So, instead creep through my bio  and, in the mean time, I’ll tell you 5 reasons why I’m really excited to be writing here at Canadian Youth Worker.

1. I’ve been involved with next gen mission + ministry for over a decade and absolutely love connecting with other youth workers. I hope this will be a platform for connection with youth workers from circles I don’t typically roll with. Here is my email, my blog, my Facebook, and my Twitter – let’s connect.

2. I absolutely believe in the future of the Canadian church and I believe youth ministry is one of the catalysts of its present healing and future health.

3. Canadian youth culture is a massive mission field filled with students whose parent’s are post-Christian. Where does that leave students? Often with never having heard or had any experience with the Gospel – ever! Next gen ministry in Canada is now, more than ever, filled with the greatest urgency.

4. I’m completely dissatisfied with the number of young people who leave their faith upon high school graduation. I want to be part of a movement with other Canadian leaders who will call them back.

5. I want to, through this blog, inspire, encourage, mentor, and equip young and rookie youth pastors as they start out in student ministry. The first couple of years have a steep learning curve and we need you – all of you – to push through!

Whether you’re in a local church or para-church context, a paid or volunteer youth worker, or living on the west coast, the prairies, central Canada, or the east coast; for the future of our nation we’re all in this together. If you, like me, hold student ministry at the core of your calling and passion, let’s stand together, learn from each other, connect with each other, and be bastions of hope in a culture grasping for the frayed edges of what little hope they barely see.  

I’ll leave you with a quote by author Len Sweet as a means of self-reflection:

“Light illumines the darkness. If there’s darkness, the blame should be attached where it belongs; not to the world that is dark but to the church which is failing to provide the light.”

Let’s not fail the darkness by not being light.

-Jer 

Jeremy Postal is the director of Whistler School, a bible and discipleship school based out of beautiful Whistler, BC. He is passionate about building communities of restoration & creativity with Christ as the focus. You can also catch him regularly on his blog at www.jeremypostal.com.  

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