Immersed in Culture
I heard Gary Lamb speak at the churchplanters.com conference a while back and he said something that stood out to me. He basically said that some of the people in that room, no matter how bad they wanted to or how hard they tried, they would never reach non-believers. At first that sounds like a very harsh statement but in all reality is a very honest and truthful statement. I mean seriously, look around your city at churches that launched a couple years back and no longer exist today. There are tons of them!
His statement made me ask the question why. I know that it really sucks to admit it but it’s completely true. I think that the reason that there are some people/churches that will never reach people is the fact that they are totally removed and have been for quite some time from our culture. They don’t know or remember what it’s like to not know Christ, therefore they can’t think like them in order to reach them. I see so many professional Christians remove themselves from culture so they don’t get sucked in but what they do is separate themselves from the people they’re trying to reach.
If we want to reach this generation and culture we have to immerse ourselves into this world. Immersion doesn’t mean conforming or becoming like so you can’t confuse the two. They’re very different things. We also have to be willing to lose a few. It’s a crappy reality but if we choose to immerse ourselves in order to show Christ, then they’re will be a few that get sucked in and we loose. The cause of Christ is to big for us to not risk this! We have to be willing to lose a few! If we want to win people to Christ in this generation we must choose to immerse ourselves in culture. We must learn what people that don’t go to church do, how they act, and how they think. Don’t become one of those who’ll never make a difference. Immerse yourself and learn your culture wherever you are. Go to a club, go eat at a bar, go to a “normal” concert (not a Christian band) just do something! The cause of Jesus is too big of a deal to sit in our church pew and never go!
I mean isn’t that the great commandment? Jesus never said “Stay!” but he did say, “go”.
I read somewhere that J.S. Bach was fired from his first church music job because his music was too “melodious” for proper worship. The prevailing church culture of the day figured he was too radical. “That Johann is just too caught up in being hip!”
Brad,
I pretty much make it a point to read Jeff’s blog every day. I now find myself also checking out yours every day too, because they have been just so thought provoking and relevant. Keep it up. You Rock!!!