The precarious ledge of Relevance

I think I’ve been academically raised up to be afraid of that word.  Not because it’s anything bad, but because so much is often loss at the cost of trying to gain more of it.  Now of course I believe that the Scriptures, though deeply aged are never antiquated, and that the notion of relevance is in the message rather than the medium, so long as the medium is sufficient to carry the message.    However, relevance is something that I’ve been learning to engage because you must engage it if you are aiming to talk to kids and teens alike.

What do I mean by relevance? Certainly, I am not speaking of a watered down gospel, an entertainment centric approach to people, nor a flash bang altar call accompanied by cathartic ccm melodies for the hormonally melodramatic.  When I say relevance, I mean, how do I speak the deepest most core truths of the Scriptures and teach them in a way that even the youngest junior higher finds breathtaking?  If I am boring the kids, I am either failing at communicating the glory of God, or I am failing to communicate my own passion about it.  I need to speak with a relevant voice, with relevant words, and in a relevant attitude.

Now hold that thought.  This generation of youngsters relates to one thing: Passion (at least for the most part).  And what makes it difficult for the older generation teaching them, is that so many messages that stir up the kids are based on vague or hodgepodge Scriptural reference with a whole lot of creative bungling.  In other words, hip pastors delivering sermons with amazingly little substance packaged and / or illustrated in a very cool and creative way.   Throw in a story about rhinos charging and mushrooms sprouting, add a dash of testimonial from gangbangers turned Christian, and you get a big crowd of kids, frenzied up into a mindless christian-esque passion.

But what if you want to teach those very same kids the timeless truths of sanctified living, of God’s plan for Israel and the church? or even the core concept of imputed righteousness in Justification?  These are Biblical teachings that call for us to not be creative with the text, but rather to be faithful with it.  The pulpit is not High school English class after all.  And yet… this is the very point where relevance must be claimed.   Yes, Amen,  we must never forfeit the accuracy of doctrinal teachings for the gimmicks of teen-centric youth-speakers, but we must fight to gain the attention of youths too.  To put it more tersely we are searching for Relevance without Rhetoric.

I am still waiting for the day when the youth of today’s churches cry out to their pastors, “Do not bring us your Creative Writing paper! brings us a Sermon!”