Have you ever felt uncomfortable while sitting in church listening to a message? Perhaps an illustration was a bit edgy or a video caught you off guard. Have you ever sub-conciously thought, “You can’t do that in church…”
I’ve had those thoughts. Often times as words are coming out of my mouth I’m thinking, “Can I say this in church???” Sometimes as a communicator you struggle with a desire to be “relevant” and a desire to be “reverent.” Relevant, on one hand speaks in plain english with everyday stories. Often times I find myself thinking, “how would I say this if I was sitting with some friends at taco bell. Of course I’d be eating one hard taco and a nacho?” (Seriously that’s what I get…everytime.) On the other hand, I find myself thinking is this idea or concept or illustration appropriate or is it reverent. It’s a fine line between relevant and reverent. Relevant…Reverent.
In my mind the debate usually sounds like this…If I say it the way I’m thinking it…or if I show the video that I am thinking about showing…or If I tell the story that I’d really like to tell…I wonder who I may offend. In every church you have the people you’d like to reach (people who do not know Christ, the Church, their purpose and will spend eternity in hell if someone does not reach them in their language with the love and reality of Jesus) and the people you’d like to keep (those who serve in ministry and support the ministry and who are striving to connect with those you want to reach) . The dilema comes up because each group views thing through very different lenses. Churched lenses and Unchurched lenses.
Lets pretend that I made a decision to play a fairly edgy video in attempt to communicate a point or to build tension in a message. We’re just pretending here. You’ve got some folks who may view the video as slightly off color or perhaps inappropriate and thus fail to see the value. Then you have folks who see the video and understand the message are not offended and are surprised that a church understands their world and communicates their language. The first response usually (and I use the word “usually” because this is a generalization) comes from those that you would like to keep. The second comes from those you want to reach.
The obvious response is, “do what God is telling you to do.” And to that I say, thank you Sunday School answerman. Anyway, you could debate this over and over till the cows come home. But, I read a passage today that I believe has helped me gain some insight and understanding to this debate. In the book of Hosea, God had a serious message that He wanted to communicate to the people of Israel. In this story the people of Israel have turned away from God and began to worship other idols. This pretty much hacked off God. That means God was not pleased with them. They basically trampled all over the 1st commandment. So what is God to do? Does he call a seminar to instruct the people how to be more faithful to Him? Does he preach a sermon using the word F-A-I-T-H-F-U-L as an acronym? Perhaps he breaks out a flannel graph and begins to act out what happens to an unfaithful people with little flannel men, women, and children…Nope. Get this, God is so determined to get this message across in a way that the unfaithful people will understand that He tells the Prophet Hosea to “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshipping other gods.” You may want to go back and read that again. That’s hardcore! Check your Bible and make sure it says the same thing, Hosea 1:2. I’d say God really wanted to make a point. Trust me I ponder the same questions that you ponder. How could God instruct Hosea to marry a prostitute simply to “illustrate” a point. For the record, “I have never gone that far to get across a point.” I’m curious to know what Hosea’s neighbors were thinking. I’m sure there were some that said, “Hosea, you’ve done gone and flipped your lid…you’re whacked man!” Others probably quit talking to him. Some may have looked for another prophet. Could you imagine the gossip when they went to the market together. Who knows. What we do know is that God instructed Hosea to do something radical because it would take something radical to grasp the attention of a wandering world. If you read the rest of the story you learn that Hosea actually married Gomer, the prostitute and yes she continued in prostitution and yes she had kids that were not Hosea’s. Gomer is unfaithful and runs from her husband into the arms of her lovers. But then there is this beautiful line in Hosea 2:14 where God is speaking of His love for Israel (remember Hosea and Gomer are a picture of God and Israel…The Faithful and The Unfaithful) and God says, “But then I will win her back once again.”
I find it hard to believe that God used an actual marriage between a prophet and a harlot to “illustrate” the unending faithfulness between God and us.
I guess what I’m saying is this. Yes, you must pray about something that is edgy and yes you had better seek wise counsel but sometimes the message that must be communicated can only be done through a culturally relevant way that may be abrasive and attractive all at the same time. It is my desire that we walk the tightrope of the relevant and the reverent, the abrasive and the attractive. Perhaps in that balance we may offend some(and that is never our intention) but it is my prayer that we will attract many more. And perhaps, just maybe it will be said that “God has won this community back once again.”
P.S. I also acknowledge that God is God and that pretty much gives Him a trump card to do whatever He wants.
