Seeking Relevancy

Keep it real...
Be honest...
Pay attention to what's going on in the world around you...
Speak to what is on the minds of the people...
Meet the people where they are...

These are great things to keep in mind in ministry. It's something that we seek to do with all ages of people whether they are high school youth, older retirees, preschool age children, or people starting families. We want what we talk about, what we say, and what we do to be relevant to the bigger picture. We keep an ear to the ground and another heavenward in order that we may meet people in the intersection of life on earth and God's call.

The events of this past week have made the goal of being relevant a challenging task. The Virginia Tech shooting is very much in the forefront of people's minds. The media frenzy has helped this of course. But here, it's hit closer to home in the literal sense. It's a 3 hour drive from Charlotte to Blacksburg and there are people in our congregation that have friends and family who attended VT.

I know there are a lot of questions out there because I'm asking many of the same. What could motivate a person to do such a thing? How did the shooter get to this point? What could have been done to prevent this? Could we have even something like this coming? What about our own safety and the safety of a children, friends, and loved ones that are attending schools around the country? Am I really safe at school? What about God, where was/is he in all of this?

As we continue to add more and more questions to the pile, I'm faced with the realization that these are the questions that the youth are asking and that I don't have any good answers to them. I want to be relevant and address the issue at hand and know I need to address this. But where to start and what to say...

This perhaps is one of the most difficult and most important challenges we will face in ministry. Seeking relevancy means addressing questions and issues that we don't have answers or solutions for. And I guess the best thing we can do is admit that we are in the same boat with them. That we are just as shocked and horrified as everyone else and that we are asking the same questions and that answers are hard to come by.

Last night I got in front of part of our youth group and spoke to the issue. I admitted that I didn't have any "good" answers. I told them in all honesty I was in the same place they were. But in the midst of the storm I was finding peace through God. That I knew God was crying with us and offering us comfort and was moved by our pain and suffering like so many years ago when he stood in front of Lazarus' tomb. That even though he couldn't provide a miracle like Lazarus' resurrection, he could provide a different kind of miracle through the cross and the promise of forgiveness and eternal life.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is take a risk in order to speak to the issue at hand. Last night was a risk. Whether or not it had any impact I don't know. But, I did what was in my heart and what I felt like God was calling me to do and sometimes that's all we have. I trust that God will always take care of the rest.