In the Year of our Lord...?

Hey all,

“What year is it here?” I heard that provocative and somewhat outlandish question from one of my professors. He uses it when he goes to various churches to give talks or consult. It’s a wonderful way to cluing the hosting church into realizing that they are, perhaps, behind the times.

Now, when I say ‘behind the times’, I’m talking about multiple levels. One level is technologically. If you walk into a church and the most sophisticated piece of technology in there is the microphone…they’re behind the times. But a church could also be behind the times spatially. Now I’m not talking about stained glass windows and stone buildings. Those things rock and can be used in ways that are quite up to date. I’m more talking about things like fixed pews and a raised pulpit. These types of things tend to limit the flexibility of the worship and the ability of the congregation to freely grow and evolve.

Perhaps the most important way that a church can be ‘behind the times’, however, is culturally. If you step through the doors of a church and you feel like you stepped into anything other than 2008, the church is behind the times. Check out the music, the structure of the worship, how people are dressed, how people talk, what (if any) cultural references you see or hear, etc… Sometimes it’s like the 50’s. Sometimes it’s like the 80’s. And, unfortunately, sometimes it’s like the 90’s…the 1890’s. The church doesn’t serve anyone by being a museum. Jesus is just as present in the culture of 2008 as He was in the culture of 1908, 1608, or 1208…or 0008 for that matter. In fact, there are things about Jesus we’ll never be able to know until we see him incarnated in today’s culture, both in Bridgewater and Beijing (or any other location you care to choose).

So the next time you walk into a church, take a few moments to soak it all in. Then, if you’re up to it, nudge the person next to you and ask “What year is it here?”

Peace,
Kevin