Relevance

I am often confused by the term "relevant" because it so often seems what is relevant to one person is not at all relevant to another. I had a discussion the other day with a friend about what people are looking for from a church, what is relevant to them. It's a question that has been in my head for some time now. In the Churches of Christ, one of which I attend, we have long held the tradition of having church on Sunday night and Wednesday night and for as long as I can remember the attendance has been significantly lower than on Sunday morning. I can imagine several reasons for that over time but today's biggest complaint is usually that those services are not relevant and I have had trouble understanding what that meant until a recent conversation I had with another friend who attends a different church. To paraphrase, he said he didn't want to be sitting around with a bunch of people acting religious, he wanted to be out doing what Jesus would be doing. He is a guy who will be at church every Sunday morning and believes the worship time is a very special time and something he will always be active in but the rest of the week he wants to devote himself to study and to serving others. Service to him is more relevant than sitting in a class a couple of nights a week.

I know these ideas can open up a can of worms with people but the idea of service to others is not one that can be debated, not one that can be ignored and is certainly one of relevance. So is the fact that what is relevant to one person is not always relevant to another and our church leaders need to be aware and helping secure opportunities for all members to serve God.

There is much left for me to think through on this and I hope no one will take this as my definitive stance. This is my blog and my space to post my thoughts, many of which are half-baked at any given time. For me, writing my thoughts is my best and easiest way to start thinking through them so share this time and space with me. My challenge for me and for you today is to think about how you are serving God and how you are making yourself relevant in the pursuit of His glory.