relevance. spectacular. power.

two days ago, i posted a somewhat random blog about labels and culture and context and relevance - yesterday i read a book by henri nouwen called in the name of jesus - last night i was convicted as i have not been in quite some time - today i blog about the irony of my blog in life in the midst of culture and context and relevance.

in his book, nouwen suggests that the christian leader faces three significant temptations... 1. to be relevant 2. to be spectacular 3. to be powerful. i couldn't agree with him more, though if you asked me two days ago, i would have said that relevance is of utmost importance today. maybe i was wrong or maybe it's just an adjustment in my head which i need. if you would have asked me two years ago, i wouuld have said a good speaker must be spectacular, engaging, lively, vivid. i'm not sure i believe that anymore. if you would have asked me 10 years ago if a leader needed to be powerful, i would have said definitely. and yet, today, i realize how amazing and wonderful it is to be weak.

so i suppose, i'll take my next three posts and reflect on these things. relevance. spectacular. power.

relevance. i heard something great a couple weeks ago concerning value. the man speaking said that something can only have real value, if the thing it is being compared against is unchangable. that is to say, we place high value on many things which simply don't deserve to be so (cars, collectibles, computers, jewelry, etc...) the same could be said for relevance. as a christian leader, you are only relevant if what you measure your relevance against is the Gospel, an unchangeable, unmovable value. it will never be different than what it is today. it's value never changes and nor does it's relevance. the Gospel and only the gospel.

nouwen says, "leaders will be those who claim irrelavance in the contemporary world and enter into deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success and bring the light of Jesus there." he is saying that behind all of the prosperity and material possession of today's culture (especially in the west) is a hidden pain, a soul crunching hurt we don't see. he continues, "there is a moral and spiritual poverty behind the facade of wealth, success, popularity and power... the cry is - does anybody love me? is there anybody who cares..?"

the person who cares is the one who never changes. we must reflect the one in whose reflection we were made. relevance to culture - relevance to continent - relevance to fashion - these are all important in the context of relating to people, but they are not the relation itself. we must strive to meet people's needs with the undying truth, the immovable object, the foundation of life. HE will always be relevant. our job MUST be to know HIM and reflect HIM.

spectacular. in the on deck circle.

power. in the hole.