a Word on relevance.

Posted by Jason C. Helveston on March 10, 2009

A current stream of “relevance” within Christianity is injuriously propelling a spirituality that is void of biblical grounding. I am not simply speaking of specific ideas that are being postulated but rather of the idea of “scriptureless” Christianity. If we are not careful, not only will we individually fall to moralism and untethered mysticism, but more importantly we will be participating in a movement that is void of authoritative leverage.

A specific manifestation of this declining foundation of Scripture is preaching. Biblical preaching is no longer seen as the call of every community of believers, but has become a distinction between “traditional” church and “contemporary” expression. Whereas traditional (usually a pejorative) churches preach the Bible, contemporary communities have conversations about life and ethics (perhaps even Jesus’ life and Jesus’ ethics). In this shift we have adopted a heretical view of the Word. We have downgraded the Bible to a collection of things that God has said rather than an active Word of what God is saying. Therefore we constantly sit in silence waiting for God to speak to us, while our Bibles sit untouched. Leading to a spiritual depression because we have not been given a sign, or a call, or a word from God that tells us what to do. All the while his whispers and shouts of truth are muffled by closed leather covers. But God is not silent.

We almost always seek relevance in places that we consider to be contemporary. But these are not synonyms. Relevance is not a matter of dates but a matter of truth. Please hear this. Relevance is not a matter of dates but a matter of truth. Therefore we must not jump into current movements of media, spirituality, ideology, and church under the pretense of becoming relevant and effective. We must jump into the Word because it is the most relevant collection of language ever authored. Every other assemblage of letters and language is dead. This literature is living and active. We do not read the Bible; the Bible reads us.

If we lose our grip of Scripture, not simply as a launching pad of spiritual growth but also the means of our development, the Church and its believers will be render ineffective and obsolete. The authoritative leverage of Scripture is rooted in the very nature of God. This special revelation of sixty-six books is the revelation of God. When we limit this disclosure of God to a past occurance, a dated message, and a “traditional” approach, we have limited God himself and sentenced our lives and ministries to a godless religion. There is authority in the Word of God and in the direct proclamation of that Word. In this world of relativity and moral flexibility, the authority of God must be our hope and stay.

Relevance is not a matter of dates, but a matter of truth. Scripture is not simply what God has said, but what God is saying. It is our call to relevantly follow what God is saying in a world that is in desperate need of authoritative instruction and foundation. May we be men and women of the Word.