The Salty Peanut Gallery

Contemporary church leaders crack me up. “Authenticity!” that’s the ticket. If we want to be true followers of Christ we’ve got to jettison the trappings of traditionalism. We must abandon the time honored traditions of the church in exchange for a whole new set of traditions. We must purge our conversations of such old fashioned terminology as “evangelism, service, and fellowship” and replace it with all new authentic terminology like “missional, intentional, and community”. God wants us to be “real” you know.

Unfortunately the authenticity of our Christianity is all too often measured by our degree of unconventionalism. But here’s the thing. At what point does all this nonconformity become conformity? Isn’t it conceivable that hip and trendy is just another form of religious ritual? And in the end does it really bring us any closer to God?

In John chapter 4 the woman at the well got into a discussion with Jesus over worship styles. “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain,” she said, “and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. The hour is coming, and is now come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.”

Notice the emphasis. Jesus didn’t say “the true worshipers will worship the Father in style and form”. He said “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” True worship is not dependent on trends, fads or culture.

I’m not saying there isn’t any room for cultural relevance. Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). It’s okay to reach across cultural barriers in order to share the gospel. But let’s not kid ourselves. Real, authentic Christianity is not determined by cultural relevance, but rather it is a reflection of the heart.