WorthyJourney

Allan over at allanstanglin.com has said ”think very carefully about how and why we do things.” When he says this does he mean lag hopelessly behind the existing culture to the point that it appears to be submitting to the culture because you make use of the technology that is now has embedded in it? 

Multimedia is not intrisically bad or good, but getting past the idea of how we use powerpoint or streaming video and podcasts and focusing so much on how we deliver the message is an over worried on subject.  We argue over how to reach the people when I frequently wonder who we are trying to reach.  Are we making efforts to find the women and men that are estranged from the existing culture as Jesus did?  Or are we reaching out to all the regular people that are exactly like you/we are?

Not to sound to much like several churches that are around us, but where is our skate park?  Is there any similarity to the samaritan women culturally and the tatooed skater or baggy clothed hoody wearing young person.  Do we reach out to these people or shy away from them?  Why not worry about the college age kids from our area, do we just hope to snag them once they get married and settle down and want to raise their kids in a better envionment? 

If someone is never around the word or the gospel how can they be affected by it.  What if the initial exposure they have is right next to the dancing bunny on some youtube page.  I agree we must NEVER CHANGE THE MESSAGE, but we cannot be affraid of others using these alternate ways to advertise the need for the “Message”.  In the end I think they won’t work anyway, but they shouldn’t hurt if they make someone think about what they are doing.

To think we can sit and offer a service that is perceived to be “traditional”, seems very contrary to the very methods Jesus used. What was traditional about preaching from a hillside to the masses.  That certainly wasn’t the only way he preached, but it was not the teaching from the synagoge that a normal rabbi would have done.  He preached wherever and whenever he spoke to people.

Perhaps our biggest failing is thinking that people think “I am hurting and lonely, hey I am going to find a church, that’l fix it, what about that one over there”  Sure that happens, but how many believers are around those poeple everyday and should seize the opportunity to invite/pull them into their lives, not their church building. 

As I was typing this I realized that I was about to say that the use of technology to bring others to the message is a neccasary one, but in reflection I think that I may be changing my mind that the ultimate method to bring the message is a personal one.  Individual to individual.  The only way to truly make a huge impact is to go back to one on one.   Softening up the ground with youtube or loud alternative music that actually has a good message embeded within it is not going to get the job done.  It lacks the very thing Jesus offers all of us, a personal relationship.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with making an attractive building and placing culturally appealing ammenities, but to do so without the personal element will fail. 

 In the end we must all look for the current culturally insignificant people as they are the samaritans of our day, we must attempt to create personal bonds by caring that can withstand the culture we are exposed to.  But we should always “think very carefully about how and why we do things” and not keep doing what we are doing just because it was what we have always done.