The Relativistic Church

John 15:19 (ESV)
"If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

"Be in the world, but not of the world."  This is a statement that we have heard and may have said many times throughout our life and ministry.  But the difficulty of this statement is not so obvious as we like to admit.

Churches can truly struggle between the balance of being in the world without being of the world, but all too often they miss the mark and become more of the world than they would like.  What I'm talking about is a general relativism [whatever is true for you works for you] that pervades many churches and even more, many people in the church.  The desire of so many churches to be needed and relevant in their communities becomes their focus.  This then breeds shallow faith, shallow ministry, and shallow churches.

Now, don't hear me saying that all churches who try to be relevant to their communities come relativists.  That would be too much of a general statement.  But how do we minister in a culture and be relevant to that culture without becoming that culture?  Ah, the million dollar question which actually has a very real answer.  R.C. Sproul put it very plainly: 

"We need churches filled with Christians who are not enslaved by the culture, churches that seek more than anything to please God and His only begotten Son, rather than to attract the applause of dying men and women.  Where is that church?  That is the church Christ established.  That is the church whose mission is to minister redemption to a dying world, and that is the church we are called to be."

If we want our churches to be relevant and make a real difference in our communities then we much preach the gospel with our lives.  God is to be our focus.  Not numbers or applause from mere mortal men.  We must be the church Christ established and to do that we must make Him the center, not us.  Amen and amen.