I recently enjoyed the new Star Trek movie out at Bridgeport Village at the IMAX Theater. WOW! What a great movie, tons of action. Now let me just say that I am in no way pretending to be some kind of trekky, but even I, a mere laymen in the world of Vulcans, Klingons and space travel galore have to admit that the Star Trek franchise has truly reinvented itself.
I got to thinking about this a little bit and it reminded me of the church… not that we are all going to travel at light speed any time soon, but the fact that the package has changed, not the story.
The church must reinvent how we package ourselves to be culturally relevant and attractive. The gospel never changes but the music should! The message should never be updated, but our style and methods have to be understandable to the culture that we find ourselves in.
It was really cool for me to learn some of the “back story” to Star Trek and I was very impressed how authentic they kept it. Tasteful use of some of the classic phrases that have become part of our culture, “Beam me up Scotty”, “I’m a doctor Jim” and “I’m giving her all she’s got” along with a few other well placed gems.
In a lot the same way I think that folks who come to our church are hungry to hear this life saving message that we all know by heart, they just want it in a way that they can understand!
Southside is a unique church in that we have the ability to reach folks in a non-traditional setting using non-traditional means. We can blow up a bottle of Diet Coke and we won’t even get in trouble for it!
One thing that never changes is how God has designed His church to work. Evangelism. The responsibility and the privilege rests on each of us. The same method that has been used for the last couple thousand years of reaching our neighbors with our personal story is still the best method today.
It just takes some men and women who are willing to tell their story. The audience is there… are you ready to tell them the one story that will lead them to their lives being transformed and their future with God coming to life?
Live long and prosper!
Pastor Willy
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