Culturally Irrelevant

Jesus was both relevant and irrelevant at the same time. Relevant to the sick, the demon possessed, the broken and the lost. But irrelevant, in most cases, to the religious, the politically motivated, the powerful and the wealthy elite. Jesus was relevant because he communicated the only thing that really mattered in life…God’s kingdom, God’s reality. He healed sick people, which was relevant because people don’t like being in pain. He delivered the demon possessed, which was relevant because most people don’t like being possessed or harrassed by evil beings. Jesus was ultimately relevant because he told people that they needed to turn away from their sins so that they wouldn’t suffer the eternal punishment their sins deserved, which was extremely relevant to a few people who didn’t want to be separated from God forever.

Jesus was obviously aware of the customs of his day, the way people lived and what they were going through. This made him relevant to the masses. However, Jesus didn’t think or act the way everyone else in his generation did. The prevailing “culture” of his day was extremely religious, entrenched in generations of traditions that were irrelevant to God’s kingdom. By default, Jesus’ relevance to his father’s kingdom made him irrelevant and even offensive to the leading systems of his day. Jesus was so relevant and irrelevant at the same time that he was both loved and hated, celebrated yet murdered.

So that’s Jesus, but what about us. If we were totally honest, we would have to admit that we’re much better at knowing our culture than knowing God. It’s so much easier to spend money at the mall, play with the latest technological gadget, work late again, get on Facebook, read the paper or just curl up in front of the TV than it is to spend time getting to know God. Why is that? What am I willing to give up for a while so that I can fully know and experience God?”

Dominic Herbst

My wife and I have been spending our Thursday nights watching a DVD series on relational healing by Dominic Herbst, founder of the Bethesda Family Services Foundation (I know, it’s not Heroes or CSI, but it’s changing our lives!). In the first couple videos, he says “The violations of a fallen world are constant and they are endless. It’s all about wounds to the soul. A dead spirit (a spirit that hasn’t been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ) leaves a soul to bounce around and be dictated to by the circumstances of life.” He also notes that for all of its knowledge about psychological problems, the world can’t see the source of inner sickness or the solution to that sickness.

My journey has taught me that the solution starts with knowing God and putting his kingdom first. Everything else in life, my identity, my relationships and my purpose, grows from that life-giving flow of knowing and experiencing God.

By culturally irrelevant I don’t mean shutting out culture, of course. It’s always a balance, but I find that when I’m seeking to know God and serve people, I just don’t have as much time to keep up with the latest and greatest. Sometimes being relevant (which is easily confused with being progressive or popular) doesn’t have anything to do with the latest and greatest. I love what C.S. Lewis says:

“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”

I want the culture of the kingdom of God to bleed into my own and transform my heart, to change how I interact with my wife, my kids, my neighbors, my friends, my enemies and total strangers. I believe that his kingdom, if I’m truly seeking it first, can’t help but make me more relevant to people, not to what they want but what they truly need. I hope this blog will encourage you as it reflects my journey, as imperfect as it may be, to seek first the kingdom.