Theology Blog

In 1989, Henri Nouwen penned the book, In the Name of Jesus. It was a book on Christian leadership, one that was relevant before, when and after it was written. It is quite relevant today. Nouwen works through three temptations that Christian leaders face. They are also temptations that Jesus faced. Nouwen offers a response for each temptation. It is a short, but powerful and rich book that every Christian leader, pastor or even follower of Jesus should read. I once had one of my doctoral professors tell me that he reads this book once a year. A good and important discipline that I have tried to practice myself. The first of the three temptations that Nouwen raises is the temptation to be relevant.

This temptation is one of the most challenge and real temptations facing pastors and leaders in the Christian church in North American today. Churches as a whole in North America struggle with this temptation as well. To assume, however, that relevance is all bad is not accurate. While it is in fact a very real temptation, it is not in of itself evil. That said, relevance should not be our primary focus or priority. The truth is always relevant, it does not need our help. The Scriptures will always be relevant, they do not need us. Jesus is relevant to all people, all cultures and all situations, he does not need us to be relevant. Not everyone in the world sees these things as relevant, and as such we as Christians do have an opportunity and call to help others see their relevancy. We can do so without compromising the identity and value of any of these things.

We also recognize that Jesus communicated the Gospel in a way that was understandable, relational and relevant to the people of that culture and of that day. As a church, we also have the obligation to bring the Gospel to our culture and contexts in a relevant and understandable way without changing the content or intent of the Gospel.

At face value, it all seems fairly simple. In reality, it is deeply complicated. So often, churches do not at all consider relevance. On the other side of the spectrum, churches work so hard to be relevant that they are no longer churches. Its a practical theology question that churches and their leaders must have.