By Dan Reiland<\/p>\n
Culture is changing, and it\u2019s changing fast. More than ever before, the church has an incredible opportunity (and responsibility) to make a difference.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s be honest, we can\u2019t lead with cultural relevance from the back of the parade. We can\u2019t lead future generations if we don\u2019t know what they want, their struggles and fears, how they experience life, and how God wants to engage them.<\/p>\n
Keeping up is the baseline. Understanding how people perceive their world is essential. It\u2019s best to be thinking ahead, seeing around the curve, anticipating, and staying relevant.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean we need to panic about what we don\u2019t yet know. But it does mean that we must be in the game. It\u2019s not a race; it\u2019s about being deliberate in your leadership.<\/p>\n
Being relevant in the local church is not about being cool, creative, and clever; it\u2019s about the ability to connect. Churches become irrelevant when they can no longer connect with the next generation.<\/p>\n
The gospel is never irrelevant, but we have a responsibility to discover the best way for it to be received. If we don\u2019t know what the next gen are thinking, we don\u2019t know what they hear when we are communicating.<\/p>\n
This article gives you practical insights to frame a conversation for your leaders about the relevancy of your church.<\/strong><\/p>\n 5 Insights for a Practical Grasp of Ministry Relevance:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) To be relevant, it simply means that it matters.<\/strong> True relevance would suggest that the surrounding community notices your presence and appreciates your ministry. Relevance is measured only in part by attendance, and perhaps a smaller part, it\u2019s truly measured by the\u00a0community\u2019s opinion<\/em>\u00a0of the good you do.<\/p>\n Let us not become weary in doing good,\u00a0for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.\u00a0Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good\u00a0to\u00a0all people<\/strong>, especially to those who belong to the family\u00a0of believers. Galatians 6:9-10<\/p>\n NOTE:<\/strong>\u00a0We are to include our own congregation in the pursuit of doing good, however, scripture is clear about \u201call people<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The first step in your city perceiving your ministry as relevant begins by knowing that you care. How you treat people truly matters. Do they know what you are for more than what you are against?<\/p>\n 2) Don\u2019t confuse relevance with style or culture.<\/strong> Ministry relevance is more about quality and effectiveness.<\/p>\n Pastors will ask me if I think choirs are still relevant in today\u2019s culture. If the choir is really good, it is absolutely relevant. Bad choirs are irrelevant.<\/p>\n Regarding relevance, just ask the question, \u201cDoes it work?\u201d If it works, and it reflects biblical values, it\u2019s relevant.<\/em>\u00a0But you have to be honest about the answer to that question.<\/p>\n 3) Don\u2019t answer questions that no one is asking.<\/strong> If we aren\u2019t careful, we can answer questions as part of a local church ministry that no one is asking. That\u2019s irrelevant.<\/p>\n I first learned this principle with my own children. When they were young, they asked hundreds of questions. By their teen years, the questions slowed to a near stop. I had to find where they were at, be patient, learn what their questions were, and parent from that perspective. Then I could use their questions to lead to timeless truth.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have to dumb down our theology to be relevant, but we do need to understand what people are asking to be a relevant leader, teacher, and pastor.<\/p>\n Start with their questions and then lead toward biblical truth.<\/p>\n 4) Relevance requires asking what the community needs.<\/strong> Talk to people who don\u2019t attend church. Ask people who left your church. Ask people in your church who are under thirty years old. Learn how other churches are connecting. (Again, that doesn\u2019t mean you need to do what they do, but you can get ideas and adapt to your context.)<\/p>\n One of the best ways to shut down relevance is to talk to the same people about the same issues, making a small tweak and end up doing the same things.<\/p>\n Relevance isn\u2019t in competition with the culture; it\u2019s about connecting with current culture. It\u2019s not about surrendering truth; it\u2019s about meeting people where they are at.<\/p>\n How\u2019s your church doing with that?<\/p>\n 5) Embrace innovation and change.<\/strong> The message remains the same, but our methods must change. Technology alone insists that you change your approach to ministry.<\/p>\n Technology changed positions we hire on staff, how we broadcast and share messages, and how we communicate with volunteers. When I started in ministry, no church had a website. Today, if your website is outdated, not user-friendly, or untended to, your church\u00a0appears<\/em>\u00a0irrelevant.<\/p>\n Relevance matters.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2024 Dan Reiland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dan Reiland Culture is changing, and it\u2019s changing fast. More than ever before, the church has an incredible opportunity (and responsibility) to make a difference. But let\u2019s be honest, we can\u2019t lead with cultural relevance from the back of the parade. We can\u2019t lead future generations if we don\u2019t know what they want, their <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":82542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRelevance means what you do matters. Relevance means that your ministry makes a difference, and people\u2019s lives are changed.<\/p>\n
\nRelevance is not about your choice of worship songs or how casual you may or may not be; that is a matter of style, preference, and culture. Relevant isn\u2019t about what you wear, your style of podium, or if you have a podcast or not.<\/p>\n
\nHave you ever played\u00a0Trivial Pursuit<\/em>? It\u2019s a fun game, but beyond that, who really cares about those questions? If you weren\u2019t trying to win the game, no one would care about the answers.<\/p>\n
\nInnovation that comes\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0from your boardroom is not likely to be relevant.<\/p>\n
\nYou don\u2019t have to do what other churches do, but you can\u2019t do what you\u2019ve always done.<\/p>\n
\nPeople used to carry their Bibles to church; now Bibles are on their smartphones.<\/p>\n\n