Culturally RELEVANT

Philippians 3:12 - "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own."

I love that Paul, this 'hero' of most of us that are followers of the 'Way', stresses that he is not 'already perfect' - he is still involved in the struggles of life in a fallen world and hence he still sins. Obviously he hasn't realized the full embodiment of his future hope, yet he proudly and boldly states, "I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own". There is a balance of faith and works, of God's call and the believer's response, here that is really cool.

Today so much is made of being 'culturally relevant'. I'm a huge proponent of this - if we are so far behind what is happening in culture, then we risk losing the ability to speak Truth into any one's life. For example: To me, using a King James Version of the Bible when sharing the Good News of Jesus with someone is the equivalent of visiting Mexico and speaking in Russian! Our culture no longer uses that language, so to make the Gospel Message 'relevant', we've updated the language so that 'Truth' is understood. Another example might be the use of Godly lyrics in updated music styles. I believe that using a culturally relevant style of music to relay the same powerful 'Godly' Message will open up doors to a whole new generation hearing and coming to 'faith' in Christ (remember Romans 10:17?). A final example (and I have many more) would be the way a Christian dresses, or even their hair styles. If all the men have newscaster haircuts, wear ties, and clone themselves in the image of Billy Graham (...or any of the business men you see on Wall street who live for the almighty dollar and constantly cheat on their wives), and if all the women wear long dresses to the ground, skip the make-up, and competitively see how high they can stack their hair - is THAT what God desires? If a Christian man wears jeans and has a 'rock-star' hair-cut, or a Jesus-loving woman wears the latest brand of make-up... are they now in direct disobedience to God's Word, or are they now positioned "in the world" perfectly in order to share a Message that is definitely not "of the world"? I would say the latter.

Yet, there is an inherent danger to this line of thinking. Many Christians will say, "Michael, if you become so much like the world then you will become the opposite of what God has called you to be, namely a 'foreigner', 'pilgrim', 'alien'." This, in fact, is very true. However, we must always remember that the Christian, like Jesus, is both a friend and an enemy of the world. "Anyone who chooses the world for his friend turns himself into God's enemy" (James 4:4). The world returns the favor by hating those who follow in the way of Jesus. Paul (in Ephesians 2:1-3) challenges us not only to turn away from our own sins, but also from following the "course of this world".

But what exactly is the "course of this world"? Isn't that really where the confusion lies?

David F. Wells, in his book Above All Pow'rs (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005 - page 23) would define it as "our embeddedness in culture at the point of its fallen horizons, false belief structures, and misdirected devotions - all of which are kept in place by the powers of darkness." Think about that statement, because it's pretty powerful.

God is not concerned with the way we look, that has always been man's concern. Even in the passages of the Bible where "dress" and "appearance" is spoken about, we see that those were extremely "culturally relevant" statements. In other words, in that culture, at that time, the men and women dressed like that and appeared that certain way. For a Believer to dress differently than "that culture" it would have been so drastically out of place that it would have caused a major distraction. As a matter of fact, an argument could be made that to appear drastically different than the culture would be inappropriate.

So what is right?
What is appropriate?

I think we should take Paul's lead (follow his example like he told us to in Philippians 3:17) and "press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own". We should just be ourselves. We should just be who God made us - unique individuals. I am not talking about copying the world and "embedding ourselves into the false beliefs and misdirected devotions" that others who do not have relationship with Father God are doing. I am saying that God is concerned with what is happening in our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). May we be concerned about that too. If being "culturally relevant" is what is needed, then may we be just that without compromising the fact that we are still "His own".

Lastly, some say that I only paint a picture of God as this Supreme, Loving, Forgiving and Gracious King of fools. To that I would say, you're just not listening. God is the King of Fools. That is true. That is why I love Him so... I'm a fool. He's my King. The Jesus we love and follow reaches down to the alienated and the dispossessed. He goes to the fringe and draws in the rejected. He lays gentle hands on the dirty and the ostracized. But He does not only touch and heal, He also instructs and warns. He tells the woman caught in adultery, "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11). He tells the invalid by the pool, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you" (John 5:14).

Following Jesus is also hard-core, because He is hard core. He came on an invasive, dangerous, and unwelcome mission of mercy to come open and expose what was hidden in men's hearts (Luke 2:34-35), not ask them to read from the King James and abstain from dressing like a rock-star. His coming was not to be marked by peace and tranquility - He came to impose a test of absolute allegiance. He forced people into a divisive crisis of choice (Matthew 10:34-39). The peace He came to bring first triggered a war. He was on a guerrilla mission to infiltrate territory controlled by His enemy, raid his camp, and set the prisoners free (Mark 3:23-27; Luke 4:18).

May you and I, like Paul, realize that we aren't perfect but we are going to press on and make this thing authentically our own, because Christ Jesus made us His own. May we shout with a bold, confident joy at the dizzying delight of being chosen, of being welcomed in by our true Father and invited to sit with Him at the banquet table reserved for His friends.

But, as we celebrate how awesome all that is, may we never forget that the One who called us His own is Friend but also sovereign King - that He who gave everything up for us... calls us to give everything up for Him.