There is a lot of discussion during these days about the issue of the relevancy of the Bible and subsequently of the church itself. It seems that most of this talk is coming from people who haven’t been around long enough to have gained the insight needed to make some of their statements. The relevancy of the church is the “in” topic of today and we should be mature enough to realize that if the church goes where those who are espousing some of the things we must do to be relevant, then we will be far removed from what the Bible says about the nature of the Church.

Relevancy for the sake of relevancy is a black hole.  It will suck the church down and thrust her into another “universe” of existence which will suit the world but will dilute the church to the point that she will be nothing but just another organization with good intentions.  When we speak of relevancy we need to define exactly what we are talking about.  Relevant as to what?  If the term means that the spiritual principles and doctrines of scripture must be changed and shifted in order for them to be acceptable in society, then people need to realize something.  The Bible is relevant to the solutions for our human condition only as long as it has not been changed to suit the ideas and desires of people who are looking for acceptance of the way they want to live.  Scripture says that God’s Word is settled in heaven, Ps. 119:89.  It means that His Word is established and is a pillar in heaven.  It can never change.  If it could be changed then God would cease to be God and that is an impossibility.  God has to say something only one time for it to be true forever. 

The unchanging God wrote the unchanging Word.  All human conditions are caused by basic spiritual problems.  We have not invented anything new for which the Bible does not have an answer.  But society is now calling for a Bible which will be relevant to the condition we now have in that it can be interpreted in such a fashion as to allow “wiggle room” for desired human activities.  That is the erroneous application of relevancy.  The bottom line is this: everything in our experience should be relevant to the Bible which, in itself is the standard for human conduct and activities.  We are not the standard by which the Bible is judged, but the Bible is the standard by which we are judged.  Relevancy where we and our desires are in view should run in one direction; from us to the Bible.  If the Bible is going to be relevant to us then, of necessity it is we who must adjust because the Bible is constant and cannot change.  If we ask the Bible to adjust or be relevant to society then we are placing a demand upon it that it cannot and will not meet.  Jesus said; “These words are spirit and they are life”, John 6:63.  They are applicable to all people of all times.  They do not need to adjust for the times.  They apply in any day and time.   

The issue of relevancy and the church is a critical issue as well.  We must not compromise holiness to be relevant to this world and we are skirting dangerously close to that in today’s church.  For us to be able to read the Bible and get our instructions upon which we are built, it had to be set in a historical context.  But, that does not mean that the spiritual principles and truths of God’s working with us and in us is locked into a particular historical time line and perspective.  The application of the Bible’s truths is for anyone at any time in the history of the world because “these words are spirit and they are life.”  That is why the Bible is always relevant.  And that is why the church must be careful of the things it does in order to call itself relevant.  Being relevant is not a problem with those who adhere to Biblical doctrines and the proper focus for the church.  Those who want to take the church into strange waters find they have to adopt a secular meaning for relevancy to convince people that they are legitimate.  Remember, if by relevant we are saying that the church must change itself in order to attract society then we are living in a danger zone.  We must remember that the church, which is the Body of Christ, IS relevant to the human condition of lostness and, after one is saved, to holiness.  The real problem is that people in today’s world expect that the church should be all things to all people.  It should be meeting every need of mankind and if it doesn’t then it is no longer relevant.  I would point out that the church was never meant to meet all the needs of mankind.  I restate it this way: “if, by relevant, we mean that the Bible is sufficient for our needs and stands as the answer for us in all days and in all times, then we are correct.  But, if by relevant, we mean that the Bible and the Church must change in order to satisfy our viewpoints and desires in order to be effective then we are wrong.  We do wrong when we assume or expect the church to submit itself to the demands of society in order to have value.  The church is relevant to this society and time in that its unchanging message can be applied in any day and time.  It is always relevant to any society in that respect.  But, if we expect that relevancy means to be like the society in order to be accepted and valued, then we are holding an unacceptable position. It would do us well to remember that the Church is the Body of Christ.  It is governed by certain spiritual principles which cannot change.  If we want the Body of Christ to adjust itself in order for us to feel good about what we do in our society and personal lives, then we are setting ourselves up as the authority and expecting the Body of Christ to be pleased with that.  We are the ones who must do the adjusting, not the scripture and not the Church either as long as the church is being obedient to the scripture itself.  Today, we are seeing that a church is judged to be successful or not by the way it adjusts itself to get the most people to attend.  The more it modifies itself to make the world feel comfortable, then the “better” it is.  But, the more it holds to the old truths and remains separate from the world, the more irrelevant it is deemed to be.  

This writer is amused at those who are supposedly setting the trend with the contemporary movement.  This movement is built upon the premise that the church is relevant only so long as it changes to satisfy the demands of what society says is worship.  These leaders, while touting their innovations and originality, all look and act basically the same.  They do the same things.  They wear the same wardrobe configurations.  They fix their hair the same way.  They remind me of the hippies of the sixties who wanted to be different from society but all wound up looking the same.  They adopt the same basic approach to change a church from what it was totheir particular style by adopting a “model” that is suppose to automatically produce “success.”  And, it might be noted that many Southern Baptist churches have been split with devastating results over this issue.  All of this is being done so the church can be “relevant”, hip, innovative and “with it.”  Many churches have been disrupted, divided and sometimes virtually destroyed because someone, usually a new incoming preacher, has basically forced what he considers to be a new and relevant model upon them.  This writer has kept a list of such situations and is familiar with at least fifteen churches so affected.  The list is still growing as news of other disruptions make their way to me.  This brings us to the question: Is the church the Body of Christ which should be what He wants it to be or is it an organization to be “designed” in such a way as to be acceptable and “relevant” to the secular society?  I would like to remind the readers of this article that the Body of Christ is constant in its focus and purpose and we should be very careful about what we decide it should be doing in order for the world to be attracted to it.  Just remember this: A crowd is not necessarily a church.  There is a vast difference between the two and we might note that it was a crowd that followed Jesus into Jerusalem singing His praises and then called for his crucifixion only a short time later.  Crowds are not loyal.  They are content only so long as they are happy.  I will not belabor the “contemporary” issue any longer but, suffice it to say, that it does relate to the relevancy issue to a great degree. 

I am aware that some will agree with this commentary and some will not like it at all.  Most who will disagree probably will be younger men who do not yet have the maturity or experience to understand the full ramifications of what I have been stating.  As time goes by, they will understand it better.  In the meantime they need to give me the same right to disagree with them in their approaches that they assume by labeling those who do not follow their model as out of touch and irrelevant.  Time will tell who is right and, as for me, I plan to let the Lord build His church as I remain faithful to the Biblical principles it is built upon namely preaching the Gospel, edifying the Saints and ministering to those in need.