Culture Clash

The Problem:
The Church continues to be out-of-touch with most people, particularly the younger generations, and seems to be insensitive when it comes to understanding the outsider's perspective. These are the facts: the vast majority of people under the age of 50 find traditional church services boring, and very few are willing to accept traditional Christian culture in order to become Christian. And as long as Christianity can be labeled cheesy, boring or archaic, it will itself stand as an unnecessary offense to believers and non-believers alike.

We have failed to see the Church through the eyes of the outsider, and through the eyes of the younger generations. Christians who grew up in the Church, and those who have remained in the Christian bubble for too long, have become out-of-touch, and thus have lost their ability to "be all things to all men" in order to save souls (1 Cor. 9:22). Who wants to step back in time a few hundred years in order to attend a church service? Who wants to listen to a bunch of cheesy songs and then yawn as a guy speaks from a podium for a straight hour? Why have we so needlessly made Christianity so tedious and unattractive?

Perhaps you have heard of the U.S. military's Psychological Operations Company, or Psy Ops. One of the most famous tactics in this unit of the US Army's playbook is the use of music to break the will of holed-up fighters. This tactic was used on Manuel Noriega in 1989, and in both Iraq wars. Psy Ops played hard rock and songs from children's television shows until the fighters surrendered. According to Psy Ops, the tactic is effective because it deprives the combatants of sleep, and because the music is culturally offensive. So now ask yourself: if the military uses music in war, then how many churches are waging war on their congregations by playing culturally offensive worship music? How many people are we keeping out of our congregations because of our archaic hymns and our terribly unhip contemporary worship music.

Contributors and causes:

• Traditionalism and archaic practices.
• The Ghetto mentality.
• Ignorance over our contemporary western culture.
• Neglecting our image.

This problem results in:

• Non-Christians having to get through more obstacles and distractions before they have a chance to hear the Good News.
• Frustration and disillusionment by Christians who are bored and feel out-of-place.

The Solution:
Our goal should be this: that the non-Christian finds no offense within the Church, other than the offense of the cross (the Good News).

• Engage your culture. Target certain cultures and subcultures via specialized congregations in which people can feel at home. The church's music styles should mirror that of the surrounding culture. Teach in more contemporary ways. More...
• Become conscious of the Church's image and of the image of your local church. Think about what you say and do: what kind of impressions do you give people about the Church? Is the Good News message preached uncompromisingly, without the distractions of cultural offenses and archaicisms?
• Prepare to change and experiment in order to meet the cultural needs of our ever-changing culture.