For a while, it seemed that churches were determined to offer people the best possible music experience. I like music, and according to Scripture, we’re commanded to sing. But we don’t need to compete with concerts and professional music productions. We can give them something they can’t get elsewhere: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs sung by believers to other believers and God (Ephesians 5:19). You can’t get that anywhere else, and it’s the kind of music we need the most.
For a while, it seems that churches were trying to address current issues in church. We emphasized relevance and felt needs. But the world’s awash with TED Talks, inspirational messages, and self-help. The church has something it can offer that you can’t get anywhere else: the message of the gospel. It alone is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
To make it in the world today, we’re told we need a compelling online presence. We need curated posts that present our churches and our message in the best possible light. Nothing necessarily wrong with this, but it’s not what we need the most. Nor is the promise of new technology that’s focused on helping us to live primarily online. What we need is something better: analogue relationships that practice the one-another commands of Scripture, face-to-face whenever possible, in the same room.
What we offer is so simple: a message that’s thousands of years old, believed by a community of flesh-and-blood people who seem so ordinary, who gather together around simple things like songs, Scripture, preaching, little pieces of bread and juice or wine. It’s all so humble, but it’s what we and the world need.
I suppose there’s a place for innovation. We should study our communities and look for ways to serve. We should stay up to date with what’s happening in the world, and help people understand what it means to follow God in our day. We should always be open to improving how we gather to do the things that the church has always done.
But what the church needs most is not innovation but the same old thing it’s offered for millennia: a relentless focus on the message of Jesus, accompanied by singing, prayer, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, relationships, and lots of love. You can’t improve on those things.
In fact, the more the world changes, the more we need to double down on what’s not new, what’s not slick, and what’s not technological. We need churches that are shameless about their willingness to buck trends and to stay faithful, even when everyone says you have to adapt or die.
Give them what they can’t get anywhere else. They can find better music, better public speakers, and more advanced technology elsewhere. They don’t need more of that. They need a church that loves and proclaims Jesus, loves and serves each other, and that takes that message to the world. Those are irreplaceable, so give them that, and don’t listen to those who say it’s not enough.
