Real and/or Relevant

Let me just say I am pretty frustrated about these words. I have heard them from friends. I have seen them plastered on a graphic behind a ceo, err I mean pastor, of a large church. I have read about them in books. And don't let me forget about another word that also gets thrown around with the two mentioned above in the title: Authentic.

Would someone please clue me in on to why they are used so often? I think I can understand some of the reasons why they are used. We want to make people feel comfortable I guess. We want to "relate"-that's another one of these words. We want to build relationships. We want to appear to be truthful. We want others to think that we really do have something important to say and maybe they will listen if we say the right things and wear the right clothes and act just like them.

Let me clarify before someone misunderstands what I am griping about. I think we should definitely be real and relevant. And I don't think anyone would argue that trying to relate to someone isn't a great way to build relationships. Authenticity is really just a two dollar word that communicates the idea that we don't want to be a hypocrite. And I think that is great too.

I guess my real gripe is that these words have become the buzz words of American Christianity at least in a broad sense. And the reason I think it is a bad thing is because it places too much emphasis on individual perception and feelings rather than transcendent truth and reality. I think emphasizing all these things/words/feelings reinforce selfish thoughts and deeds. The idea that "this is my world and the rest of you all are just living in it" is indeed one of the most common bases of thought that most of us experience day in and day out. We have become so concerned with experience that we lose sight of the bigger picture, of the lives that surround us, and the great big huge God we call Father.

If you don't think this is a problem for you Justin Taylor had a blog post that asks some questions that might shed some light on whether or not you are more concerned with how something relates to you and your world. They are listed below.

• Do you get bored when someone reads a longish passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on with the music?
• Do you need music playing in the background for the reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?
• Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if it doesn’t have music playing behind it?
• Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?
• Do you desperately look forward to the next conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be able to feel close to God again?
• If you’re in a big church with great music, are you able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?
• Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?
• Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your church?
• Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have? Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really worship?”
• Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?