Change for Christ's Sake (05/20/2010)

Weekly Pulpit -- Warren Sentinel -- May 20, 2010

Every so often I'll hear someone mention the country of Peru as if it is the most distant and foreign place on the planet. I find this strange since that is where I grew up. My parents are missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and have spent much of the past forty years working there.

As a result, I grew up as a “multicultural kid.” I grew up knowing that different cultures do things and see things differently. And that what works well in one cultural setting may not work well in another. I had to learn to adapt how I carried myself, said things, and did things, depending on the particular cultural mix I found myself in. And I also learned to value different cultures and to be enriched by them – mine isn't better than theirs!

I learned even more about this while living in a dorm for international students while attending my first year at UCLA. There were literally students from all over the world. One day I took some dried laundry out of a dryer so that I could put my wet clothes in. A couple hours later I got a visit from the cousin of one of the female students that lived in the dorm. He was very upset that I had touched his cousin's clothes (which, unbeknownst to me, included some undergarments). Evidently this had caused her to feel tremendous shame and so I had to go and apologize to her for an offense I didn't even fully comprehend.

Why do I share all this? I share this because I believe it is relevant to the cultural shifts underway all around us. Not only are we becoming a much more multicultural nation, but the prevalent culture in which we live is also changing dramatically. I passionately believe that the ability of the Church to remain a relevant part of our society will depend in great part on its willingness to adapt to the changing cultural landscape.

Don't worry, I'm not suggesting that the Church change the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus is changeless! But how we relate to and communicate the Gospel – the tools we use, the way in which we communicate, and even the language that we use to communicate it – has to change in order for it to be heard, understood, and taken to heart.

A hymn written in the 1740's may be full of wonderful theological truths, but it may no longer touch someone's heart if it sounds even more foreign to them than Peruvian music. That is why I love hearing old hymns that have been updated with new music! And that is why I believe Churches should be increasingly open to music written today. And a sermon that is a lengthy monologue may have little or no impact on younger generations who are increasingly visually oriented and more accustomed to dialogue (just visit your local school or university if you don't believe me).

In our efforts to share the timeless truth of Jesus in a rapidly changing world, we should seek to incarnate (flesh out) the Good News of Jesus to everyone around us in whatever ways we can. Yes, change is hard, but it is not impossible. And change for Christ's sake is change followers of Jesus should believe in and be willing to make – whatever the cost. We should desire to be like the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”