Central to the mission of the Church is offering a compelling witness to the life-saving and life-transforming power of the gospel message. We are called to show the world that the message of Jesus is relevant, both in this life and in the next. However, being relevant doesn’t always entail what we think it does. Here are five marks of truly relevant churches.
Here are five marks of truly relevant churches.
1. Relevant Churches Don’t Mistake Style for Substance.
Too often, church leaders think that if they update the decor of their worship spaces, dispense with archaic language, and adopt trendy styles, they have become sufficiently relevant. While these updates can be part of a vision to connect with the community, they should not constitute the entirety of that mission. Nonbelievers will not be convinced of the gospel’s relevance simply because worship services open with a secular song or a sermon series mimics the titles of popular movies. Instead, people are drawn to Jesus by experiencing the power of His Spirit to transform lives, regardless of the pastor’s attire or whether the worship team utilizes a fog machine. This authentic church alignment is essential for reaching today’s society.
2. Relevant Churches Are a Present Force in Their Community.
For many nonbelievers, the most pressing question about the Christian faith is not whether it is true, but whether it is good. For those who follow Jesus, we know it is both. Often, people become convinced of the truth of our message by seeing its goodness; they must want the gospel to be true before they can believe that it is. This is where truly relevant churches thrive. The relevance of the gospel is demonstrated not only through faithful speech but also through living that truth out in practical ways. Beyond personal piety, this involves working for the common good. Relevant churches tend to the tangible needs of their community and care for the least of these, showcasing authenticity and growth.
3. Relevant Churches Don’t Answer Questions No One Is Asking.
Believers know that the truth offered to us in the Bible is eminently relevant. It touches every part of our lives, showing us how to become everything that God created us to be. However, we don’t always do a good job of demonstrating its relevance in the way that we speak about it or teach it. Despite how fascinating Bible nerds may find it, I don’t know any nonbelievers who are dying to listen to a 10 minute exposition of a map showing the geographic borders of the kingdom of Israel in the ninth century BC. Relevant churches take care not to spend their time answering questions that nobody in the community is asking. Instead, they speak to the timely issues of our day with the timeless truths of Scripture, showing how God cares about the things that matter to us most and provides the best path forward in everything that we do.
4. Relevant Churches Care About Depth of Connection More Than Breadth of Reach.
When pastors and church leaders meet with each other at conferences and other cooperative events, some of the most common questions they ask each other are related to numbers.
What’s your average weekly attendance?
How many weekend services do you offer?
How many staff members do you have?
What is your annual budget?
These questions aren’t unimportant. Attendance numbers, building capacities, staff sizes, and budgetary constraints are all considerations when evaluating the best strategies for the unique contexts of our churches. Nevertheless, when these numbers are used as a measuring rod of success or faithfulness, they become an end unto themselves—the goal we pursue even more than we pursue seeing lives deeply formed by the way of Jesus. Relevant churches aren’t most concerned with creating systems and initiatives that will get the most people in the door. They are most concerned with what they are doing to not only draw people to Jesus but to help them see all the ways in which Jesus wants to shape and reshape the way they see the world, the practices they keep, and the lifestyles they lead. This isn’t always the case, but when churches focus more on the “long obedience in the same direction” to which Jesus calls us, numerical growth can be slower or more meager. To be sure, slow numerical growth isn’t necessarily a sign of greater health or deeper spirituality. Lots of small churches are deeply unhealthy and irrelevant to their communities. Nevertheless, when church leaders focus on growing deeper with their congregation even more than growing wider in their influence, that’s when they have the opportunity to become a truly transformational (and relevant) presence in their community.
5. Relevant Churches Don’t Compromise Truth.
As American culture continues to change, many of the cultural values of our day are increasingly at odds with the teachings of Scripture. But the key to becoming a relevant church is not abandoning the countercultural aspects of our faith in favor of offering something more palatable to those seeking an encounter with God. Instead, our key to relevance is found in doubling down on these values, and doing so in a way that models radical love, selfless service, and prophetic wisdom not only to those who agree with us but to those who disagree with us as well. As certain traditional values of the faith are increasingly being characterized as bigoted and regressive, may the people who have a personal encounter with our churches be shocked, if not mildly confused, by how loving, inviting, caring, and sacrificial we are toward them while still holding to those views. Nothing could be more relevant than a consistent testimony of the truth, wrapped in a kind of love that the world could never offer but desperately needs.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.