In the world? Or of it?

Our morning breakfast table devotions this year are from a book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth, called The Quiet Place. And the other day she hit a chord with some of my thinking about our Christian witness. Nancy Leigh’s thoughts are based on the verse, Romans 9:33, where Jesus talks of laying a stone in Zion…a stumbling block, a stone of offense. Nancy says:

“In many of our churches, it seems we’re knocking ourselves out trying to be ‘relevant’ so we can attract more attention and bigger crowds. We don’t want to appear too different or extreme, for fear of turning off unbelievers or being perceived as out of step with the culture.”

Then comes the zinger.

[blockquote author=”” link=”” target=”_blank”]We’ve accommodated to the world rather than calling the world to accommodate to Christ.[/blockquote]

I often wonder about our role in Christian media. Are we to blend in to the culture or stand out? Are we to be similar to the secular or be willing to be distinctive for the Lord? Where do we draw the line in our music, our programming, our presentation?

Recently on local television I saw a story about a church for millennials. They ran a clip of the pastor speaking in the pulpit…and the TV station had to “bleep” out many of his word in his sermon. Is that what it takes to present Christ and the hope of the Gospel to our culture today?

In Wolgemuth’s devotional, after talking of all the many ways we have of reaching people with our message…all the way from Christian concerts, conferences, media events, radio, TV, blogs and podcasts…Nancy Leigh asks a penetrating question.

“Could it be that the absence of true revival and of deep, lasting impact on outsiders is not from a shortage of creativity or cutting-edge methodologies, but from the lack of irrefutable evidence of His presence among us?”

I think of those who may click “like” on Facebook on a scripture, or forward a picture of Jesus, but don’t show a real change in their lifestyle to reflect the nature of Christ in our world. Are they fooling themselves about the Christian life? Nancy Leigh concludes by reminding us:

[blockquote author=”Nancy Leigh” link=”” target=”_blank”]Our distinctiveness is our message. Our changed lives are our testimony. What makes Christ irresistible to others is His uniqueness, not how compatible we can make Him to the culture.[/blockquote]

Can we examine our lives…our ministries? Are we trying to make Christ compatible? How close to this corrupt culture do we want to live to be “relevant?”

I’m think about this today, and I’m praying for God’s guidance. Will you join me?