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| Linda and I were with A.M.E. leaders in Trinidad |
Jesus told us that his kingdom, his rule, his reign, is "not of this world." Jesus was not trying to be culturally cool. How weird if Jesus spent his time striving to be hip and fit in.
Pastors, following Jesus, can be free of the relevance disease. Cultural relevance is changing so fast. What is awesome today will be passé later today.
Focus on the enduring truths, while wearing yesterday's cool clothes. Maintain the abyss between the two. Forsake your hipness for the sake of the Gospel. They are not the same. One endures, the other trivializes and fades away.
Remember that "the Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (Here.)
Eugene Peterson writes:
"Pastors are in charge of keeping the distinction between the world's lies and the gospel's truth clear. Not only pastors, of course - every baptized Christian is part of this - but pastors are placed in a strategic, countercultural position. Our place in society is, in some ways, unique: no one else occupies this exact niche that looks so inoffensive but is in fact so dangerous to the status quo. We are committed to keeping the proclamation alive and to looking after souls in a soul-denying, soul-trivializing age."
- Peterson, in Eugene Peterson and Marva J. Dawn. The Unnecessary Pastor: Rediscovering the Call (Kindle Locations 65-68).
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My two books are:
Leading the Presence-Driven Church (January 2018)
