"A Relevant Church in an Irreverent World"
Matthew 5:17; John 13:34
Introduction:
1. Much attention has been paid in the church in recent days to the issue of change.
2. So much so, that the word change has become a "Fightin' Word," just like in the old Western movies.
3. But the issue of change is not new, to think so would be foolish. Everything that is was new at one time.
4. The issue of change is at the heart of what has been called by some church historians as the "worship wars." Talk about an oxymoron!
5. The church is to be an institution of glory to God, and at FCC we have made that our Motto. (What's a motto? Nothing! What's a motto with you?!)
6. You have heard it said on a regular basis, that the purpose of FCC is to glorify God.
7. But folks, we can't do that while we're shooting each other in the back!
8. The church around the world has become irrelevant to many people who are on the outside looking in, and much of the reason is the way we treat each other!
9. I want you to understand that we no longer live in a modern world. Did you hear that? We no longer live in a modern world. The modern world was the one which said that technology would solve all of our problems, and the highest and most noble pursuit was truth and knowledge.
10. We now live in a postmodern world, one where knowledge has been replaced by experience and truth has been substituted for by practicality. In a postmodern world, those outside of Christ are no longer asking if Christianity is true, they are asking, "Does it work?"
11. If we have any hope of reaching this new generation of lost souls with the gospel, we need to make sure that as we reach out with truth, we present a faith that works.
12. And as we struggle amongst ourselves over issues like church music, teaching styles, buildings, decorations, symbols, and all kinds of other things, we show the postmodern world that we indeed do not work, and they should look somewhere else for a practical faith.
13. And let me assure you that they are doing just that! Around the world, cults, Eastern mythologies and religions, and Islam are outpacing the growth of Christianity.
14. So when will we settle this issue of change and get on to the issue of saving lost souls? Probably not this morning.
15. But my desire is to present Biblical truth to you today in a way that will help you work through change in a practical way. My desire is that FCC become a relevant church in a very irreverent world.
16. Someone's eternal destination may just count on it.
I. Not everything that is new is good, and not everything that is old is bad. (Matthew 5:17)
A. Jesus taught that the Christian faith is dependant on the past. His purpose in coming was not to replace Judaism, but to perfect it.
B. Many new things are really bad:
1. New Age movement
2. New World Order
3. New Coke
4. the Chicago Bulls
5. etc. (you can probably think of some others!)
C. Many old things are really good:
1. The Bible
2. great-grandparents
3. Home
4. Old-fashioned sodas
5. Etc. (Insert you own favorite thing here. . . .)
D. It is important to realize that everything new becomes old at some point.
1. The new things that the church does today will become the traditions of tomorrow.
2. Every generation makes things in the church relevant to their own situation.
3. The past history of the church is something to be proud of, and we should not ignore or reject it because it doesn't suit our tastes.
4. The past successes of this very congregation are things of which we can be proud.
5. The packet of information which was presented to me as I was involved in the interview process to become part of the ministry staff here bragged on many of the successes of this congregation.
6. But past success is no guarantee of future glory, as indicated by my favorite part of the packet I read, which stated that this church meets in a wonderful, modern sanctuary, which was remodeled in the 60's.
7. The 60's are no longer modern, and I hope that this congregation has not decided to stop trying to please the Lord over 30 years ago!
II. Not everything that is old is good, and not everything that is new is bad. (John 13:34)
A. Jesus clearly came to breathe new life into a faith that had become a religion; in other words, it needed a fresh perspective.
B. Some things that are old need to be forgotten.
1. Many people believe that traditional church music is vastly superior to the contemporary church music being written today. But the date on which a song was written does not insure it's worth either theologically or musically. Milburn Price, a Church Music professor, gave the following example in an article he wrote called, "Tensions in Church Music":
"The bells of Hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling
For you, but not for me.
The blessed angels sing-a-ling-a-ling
Through all eternity.
"O death, where is they sting-a-ling-a-ling?
O grave, thy victory?
No ting-a-ling-a-ling, no sting-a-ling-a-ling,
But sing-a-ling-a-ling for me!"
This was a hymn sung by the church in early America. But clearly it doesn't measure up to the great hymns of the faith written at that time. My point, just because something is old doesn't make it good!
2. Another example of something old that isn't necessarily good: the preaching style of early American church
3. Another old item we can do without: Early automobiles (nostalgia is nice, but not if you're in a hurry!)
4. Etc. (I'm sure we can list many, many more!)
C. New things which are good:
1. Great church music like "Shout to the Lord," "Change My Heart, O God," "Great Is the Lord," "There is a Redeemer," and more!
2. Modern conveniences such as the telephone, electricity, computers, etc.
3. At one time, great Revivals have swept the world. Can these be bad?
4. Etc. (Can we list more new things which are good?)
D. When we resist or even reject new things, we run the risk of quenching the Holy Spirit which is still at work in the world today.
III. Whatever the church does, we must remain unified to be relevant in a Postmodern world. (John 17:20-21)
A. Jesus' prayer for unity.
1. Jesus understood that if the church were to be fractured, it would hurt the message we have for the world.
2. Matthew 5:14-16= says that our actions determine how people perceive our Lord.
3. Just as a child casts an opinion of the parent, so a disciple casts an opinion of his master.
B. Modernity, the style of world that most of us grew up in, stated that truth and knowledge were the keys to determining what was real.
1. Science was to be the key to real human achievement.
2. Solid facts would replace old, ancient myths and we would as a human race become "like gods."
3. A famous quote was, "Let us make god in our own image," and people began to think in "modern" ways.
4. But it was empty, and the Christianity it produced was hollow and without power.
C. So, a new way of thinking developed. We call it Postmodern, because it came as a result of this "modern" thinking.
1. Truth was replace by practicality.
2. Most postmodern thinkers, and we have a bunch of you here with us this morning, don't believe in objective truth. In other words, there are a great many people who don't believe that anything is true just because it is true. They believe that something can be true for you and false for someone else.
3. They no longer prize knowledge, but experience.
4. For them, if you have made Christianity work for you, if it helps you get through your day, then fine, Christianity is your truth.
5. But it is equally possible that Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or any other religion can be true.
D. So, how do we reach these people?
1. We make our faith work.
2. We stop fighting over matters of opinion and do what Paul said that we should do: we put others ahead of ourselves. Philippians 2:3
3. We become unified even though we may disagree on some things.
4. And we let the world see that our faith is not stale and selfish, but it is alive, vibrant, and real.
5. Once we convince them that it works, we can then show them that it is true.
Conclusion:
1. The problem with unity is that it is always the other guy's problem.
2. In one day in the life of this church, I had two very interesting conversations. One started out by having an older member of our congregation ask me, "What are we going to do about all of these young people who don't like the old people." The other started out by a young persona asking me, "Why don't any of the old people in our church like us?"
3. You see, sometimes your viewpoint is affected by where you stand. If I'm standing behind the elephant after feeding time, I probably don't share the same perspective as the one who watched him eat.
4. The problem of church unity would be solved if one side would give in to the other. But would the cause of the church be met? Probably not.
5. Dr. Price, in his article on church music, suggests two ways that we can be unified, not only on the issue of music, but in general: First, we treasure the heritage of our past, and second, we remain open to new ways of doing things that do not violate scriptural principles.
6. Alexander Campbell, architect of the church movement that produced FCC, was convinced that our movement would never fracture. But less than a century later it had been split twice.
7. One of the splits dealt with the issue of theological integrity, is the Bible true or not. But the other was simply over a matter of opinion. Church music has been at the heart of so much struggle in the church that surely the Devil must enjoy our worship.
8. Let's not make the mistakes of the past the path of the future.
9. Let's accept one another in love, learn to appreciate the tastes and opinions of each other, and make important matters the things that we concentrate on most.
10. Worship is the time when we focus on God, not ourselves. And truly integrated worship is when we do that all of the time, not just in a church building.
11. The Lord is worthy of our best efforts, and the world is dying to hear about Jesus.
12. Let's agree that we can disagree on some matters of taste, but we will never let those tastes come between us as brothers and sisters in Christ, and most certainly not between the lost and Christ.
13. If you're here this morning and you need to give your life to Christ, now is the time.
14. If you're here today to become a part of a congregation that is growing spiritually and numerically, and is growing in understanding of one another, now it the time.
15. We offer an invitation to you to come forward and become part of the living Body of Christ today as we sing our invitation song.
