Church Relevance - Entry for March 22, 2007
Is the church really necessary? I have been to churches that really made me wonder if their community or the world was any better off for their existence. For-profit companies do not have to wonder if they have outlived their usefulness. They simply look at the books. When the profits are no longer coming in, the doors need to close. In churches, there is a different mindset - and rightfully so. Churches are not measured by dollars but human impact. In days before the TV and radio, churches were not only a moral compass for communities, but they were also entertainment. In 1741, when Jonathan Edwards preached "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," people talked about it for weeks. The sermon was their "water cooler" discussion. Today, we don't talk about the service around Sunday lunch, much less the water cooler. The church will not be able to compete with Fox, MTV or any other major entertainment company today. And if we can relate to God personally - what is the relevance of the church?
I think Genesis gives us a clue. It says that as God created the world, He looked over everything and proclaimed it to be good. But there was one thing that was not good - Adam was alone (Genesis 2:18). We've heard the story a hundred times, but the really interesting thing about this story to me is that Adam was not alone. He had been talking to God (Genesis 2:16-17) and God had been walking in the garden with Adam (Genesis 3:8-10). It is interesting to me that in this context, God said, "It is not good for man to be alone."
Maybe this is one indicator of just how much we need human relationships. While we can all relate to God individually, we also need a deep form of human community. A community where we connect not just emotionally and physically, but spiritually. In other words, it seems that the church is not only relevant, but it is potentially more important than ever. As our communities are becoming defined by electronic interaction and spiritual relativism, the church should be a haven for authentic relationships and spiritual understanding.
Therefore, the question is not as much about the relevance of the church as it is about the implementation of the church. What do you think?
