Ed Stetzer on Cultural Relevance
Ed Stetzer recently posted an fabulous post which asks the question “Why is cultural relevance a big deal?” I highly encourage everyone to read the article below are some highlights.
. . . The scriptures are relevant to this and every culture. They do not need updating, correcting, or revisioning. On the contrary, what needs revisioning is our understanding and obedience to God's word as we live out His mission in context. When we live a humble orthodoxy and humble missiology, we will be salt and light in contemporary culture—a biblically-faithful, culturally-relevant, counter culture. . . .
. . . The irony of this [arguing against cultural relevance] is that every church is culturally relevant. It is simply a matter of whether the culture of the church is in any way similar to the culture of its community or only meaningful to itself. . . .
. . . The unchurched think that Christianity is a retrograde culture rather than a living faith. Our job is to remove the "extra" stumbling blocks of culture without removing the essential stumbling block of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:23). . . .
. . . The scriptures are relevant to this and every culture. They do not need updating, correcting, or revisioning. On the contrary, what needs revisioning is our understanding and obedience to God's word as we live out His mission in context. When we live a humble orthodoxy and humble missiology, we will be salt and light in contemporary culture—a biblically-faithful, culturally-relevant, counter culture. . . .
. . . The irony of this [arguing against cultural relevance] is that every church is culturally relevant. It is simply a matter of whether the culture of the church is in any way similar to the culture of its community or only meaningful to itself. . . .
. . . The unchurched think that Christianity is a retrograde culture rather than a living faith. Our job is to remove the "extra" stumbling blocks of culture without removing the essential stumbling block of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:23). . . .