Relevant to the Culture

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Relevant to the Culture</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id170.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dedicated to Spiritual Growth"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Ministry Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>“Relevant to the Culture,” February 18, 2001am, Berean Bible Church</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>In Crystal River, Florida, “a school's order for 400 slices of pizza was mistakenly translated into an order for 400 pizzas -- at 10 slices a pie. When the third wave of pizzas arrived at Crystal River High School, school officials realized there was something amiss. The pizza onslaught was stopped at 233 pies from Hungry Howie's. Shirley Poe, school district food service director, had put the order in the day before because kitchen equipment was being moved to a new cafeteria.  Hungry Howie's owner Daved Amen said, 'Shirley Poe was talking servings and I was talking pizzas. I don't talk in servings’” (Dallas Morning News).</div> <div> <I>     </I>The church in America is in a state of crisis. It is not affecting the culture, because it is not communicating in language the culture understands. Most churches in America are not growing, but are declining. More churches are being closed than new ones opened.  70-80% of the churches in America are in decline. 10-15% are plateaued. Only about 5% have grown consistently (over a 5 year period). This is tragic when you consider that the church’s main role is to lead people to faith in Christ and help them grow as followers of Christ.</div> <div>      How can we make a difference in our culture? How can we communicate in a language that our culture understands, so we can give them the unchanging message of the love of Christ?</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. We must avoid creating barriers that prevent us from accomplishing our mission.</B></div> <div>      A. Acts 15.1-21: Let’s not make it hard for people to hear the gospel or grow in Christ (vs. 19). The question was, should Gentiles have to adopt the Old Testament Law of Moses in order to be really saved? The gospel was rooted in Jewish culture, but God was doing a new thing. For the gospel to impact the many cultures of the world, the requirement to adopt Jewish cultural practices would have to be dropped. </div> <div>      What kind of barriers do we have that get in the way of doing what we are called to do? Here are several examples: the language we use, our style of clothing, the style of music (no funeral dirges except at funerals), unfriendliness, and the expectation that people are supposed to “have it all together” before they come to church.</div> <div>      B. 1 Corinthians 9.19-22: Paul used different methods to reach different kinds of people with the one message of the gospel of Christ. We must be willing to sacrifice our preferences to reach others (vs. 19, Paul willingly served others by setting aside his rights). This does not mean that we give up on the essentials; we must determine the essentials, the timeless principles in the Bible (vs. 21, Paul submitted to Christ’s authority. It wasn’t that “anything goes.”) </div> <div>      America has various cultures in it, which require a variety of methods in leading people to faith in Christ and helping them grow as his followers. Cultures are different in urban and rural areas. College towns have their own culture. The Northeast is culturally different from the Southwest. The economy and history of an area also affect its culture. A church must understand its local culture so it can use appropriate methods to reach people.</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. Be willing to change to relate to the surrounding culture.</B></div> <div>      A. Many churches are dying because they are disconnected from the real lives and needs of people. A major reason why people don’t attend church is because they think church has nothing of value to offer them. It is simply not relevant to their lives (even though there is a great interest in spirituality).</div> <div>      B. In order to stay relevant, we must be willing to change regularly. In a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, Calvin, while riding down a hill in a little red wagon, says to his pet tiger Hobbes, “Nothing is permanent. Everything changes. That’s the one thing we know for sure in this world.” In the next frame, he says, “But I’m still going to gripe about it.” Change is painful, but it is necessary. A church can’t merely change and become contemporary and then stay the same for the next ten years. A church must be prepared to change its methods often, to respond to changes in the culture.</div> <div>      For example, do we read and preach from a Bible that communicates at most people’s reading level? Are we willing to change it as the use of language changes? Are we willing to adjust our style of clothing so as not to make people feel like outsiders? Are we willing to use musical instruments that relate to today’s culture? Are we willing to use video? Are we willing to meet felt needs of people in order to share the love of Christ with them?</div> <div>      C. But we must know what not to change. We must not change <I>the Word</I>. It contains the unchanging message of the gospel, as well as God’s timeless standards. It requires diligent study to discern the timeless theological principles from culturally-based commands (for example, greet one another with a holy kiss is cultural; showing love and hospitality to one another is timeless).</div> <div>      The other thing that does not change is <I>God’s  mission</I> for us. God’s priority for the church is that it carry out the Great Commission (Matt 28.18-20). We are to be making disciples – leading people to faith in Christ and helping them grow as his followers. The value of being culturally relevant does not conflict with the other values of Berean Bible Church (Centered in Christ, Founded on the Bible, Powered by Prayer, Oriented to People, Intentional in Evangelism, and Dedicated to Spiritual Growth). Being culturally relevant supports these values.</div> <bR> <div>      In review, we must avoid creating barriers to accomplishing our mission, and we must be willing to change to relate to the culture around us. This is what our missionaries do when they go into another culture. They learn the language and customs. They learn how people dress and how people think. They seek to tear down any non-essential barrier that would prevent them from communicating in ways that people understand. And they use methods of sharing the gospel and helping people grow that are appropriate to that culture.</div> <div> <I>     </I>God sent his Son Jesus to this earth to save us. God the Son left the glories of heaven and showed up on earth as a baby one day. He grew up and he got tired and hungry. He was dirty after walking the dusty roads. He became human in order to reach us with his grace by dying on the cross in our place. That was the ultimate cross-cultural experience. Are you willing to go outside of your cultural preferences to share God’s love with others?</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>