Culturally Irrelevant

He isn’t increased in glory by my worship or decreased by my turning away. He is abundant always. And those hidden in Christ are as immovable as he is.

If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? 
If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? 
Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men.
(Job 35:6-8)

There is nothing lacking in the godhead. Ok, I’ve known that in my head, but it’s starting to make its way into my gut.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are and always have been perfect in unity, in love and in relationship. There’s nothing anyone can do to add or take away from God. He’s eternally existent and unchanging. My worship or lack of it can’t change him at all. The only thing that changes is me. Whether I enjoy him or despise him, worship him or denounce him, need him or reject him, he never changes. His love is constant, his glory is abundant and his mercy is always available. 

If God doesn’t need anything from me then why am I here? Isaiah 4:6-7 says that we were created for his glory, to showcase who he really is. It’s not that we’re increasing his glory; we’re just reflecting it to others. In other words, I was created to be a unique expression of his nature so that others can see him clearly. He expresses all of the facets of his abundant nature through his creation. I’m here to be a living, breathing, walking, talking expression of him. And when I’m being that, being completely true to what he put in me, I’m happiest. Worship, then, is the expression of my life as it reflects his glory. My work, my play, my talk, my thoughts, they all express his glory. But I can’t bring him glory in my own strength.

We’re conditioned to believe that value comes from productivity, what we can provide for others or what we can give to God through service or devotion or worship. Martha was doing the most work, yet it was Mary who was commended for sitting, listening, receiving and being. Peter couldn’t imagine that Jesus would want to wash his feet. “No, I need to wash your feet, Jesus. You’re God, so I should serve you. I should be the one doing, like the way all good subjects serve their king.” But Peter could not add to Jesus or take from him. It was Peter who needed, who lacked. So Jesus said, “If you don’t let me wash your feet, you can’t have any part in me.”

It’s why the kingdom requires only that I believe, which to me is simply the act of receiving. Jesus said, “Come, eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Yes, at some point I will serve him and do for him, but not before I’ve died with him, received from him, been filled with him, healed by him, hidden in him and know who I am in him.

Activity that doesn’t flow from an abundance of Christ is like trying to cut down a tree with a spoon. Sometimes I feel useless at his feet, like I’m not helping anyone or being productive. But when it’s Christ who lives in me then every little thing I say and do is a true expression, a powerful seed, a light of hope, a healing outflow of his love and character. That’s what the world and the body needs, and it’s ultimately what makes me the happiest.

God, forgive me for my pride and my feeble efforts. I’m ready to receive like a child. To take you in without fear of what I’m not. There’s no shame in my weakness, only glory in being covered by you!

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.