Mega Church VS Horse And Buggies

Hello Church,

As I try to stay ahead of a renewal process for the church, I find myself trapped between two dynamics that want to pull me in opposite directions:

Biblical Principles

God wants us to 'make disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world'.  This has been the deciding mission statement of the UMC in West Ohio for years.  I don't disagree.  Disciple-making is the bedrock upon why we are the Church.  We want to empower others to be a better Christian tomorrow than yesterday.  It's hard and messy work.  It isn't attractive or pretty.  It involves the day-to-day grind of missed opportunities, failed actions and misplaced words.  There is lots of energy teaching and learning and being transparent and vulnerable.  It isn't fun, but it is biblical.

Cultural Relevance

To make disciples we need to attract people.  People are attracted to various elements of mainstream culture including the big, bright, expensive, technological, informational, fast-paced, immediate gratification, entertainment-driven communities in which we live.  Therefore we must admit the difficulty of 'making disciples' if the church remains separated from the mainstream culture to which people are attracted.  It's fun to be relevant, but a church that is relevant is in danger of losing its biblical principles.... right?

So I find myself in a polarizing dichotomy.  Stick to biblical principles at all cost and risk losing relevance to would-be disciples..... or be a fun, relevant church at the risk of compromising our bible-based mission to make disciples of Jesus.

I think there might be a balance, but I think it would be a precipitous one.  There are churches that stretch the bounds of one extreme or another.  The Amish stick to biblical principles and throw cultural relevance away.  Current non-denominational mega churches (and some denominational ones) embrace cultural relevance and the random charismatic leader throws away (or ignores) selected biblical principles that he deems too insignificant to follow.  I am comfortable with neither.

I believe the key to a healthy and holy church is to strike the balance.  Stick to the biblical mandates of what it means to be a church, knowing some will not be interested in being a part....... and be relevant and attractive enough to be given the opportunity to usher others into the Christian
Faith. 

But believing it and living into it are two different things.  One is much more difficult than the other.  Pray for the church and pray for Emmanuel.

God is Good,
Pastor Joe