The Myth of Relevance

In a previous post I mentioned the paradoxical fact that many sincere believers desire to stand out from the unbelieving crowd while engaged in common-grace cultural activities like work, school, or art, but then, when engaged in sacred activity like worship, they try to blend in with the world in an attempt to be "culturally relevant."

Hence we hear descriptions of evangelical worship services that sound something like this: "At our church, you'll hear practical teaching that is actually relevant and helpful in the real world."

Here's my question:

Doesn't this way of thinking assume that, when the world of the Bible and the world of contemporary culture are out of sync, it is the former that must be adapted to fit the norms of the latter?

It seems that in our desperate effort to make the Gospel "relevant" to people with cell phones we have emptied Christianity of its Christian-ness and, thereby, sold our priceless birthright for a bowl of beans.

When it comes to being "profane," Esau had nothing on us (Heb. 12:16) ....