Real, Relevant, or Both?

Here's a thought-provoking blog post from one of my seminary professors. You can follow Dr. Dan Crawford here.

August 16th, 2010 by Dr. Dan

Recent studies have shown that as high as 70% of young Protestant adults between the ages of 18 and 22 have stopped attending church regularly. How could this happen? We tried so hard to reach them – with slick slogans, casual worship clothing, shorter sermons accompanied with power point pictures and video clips, upbeat music with live band on stage, no more welcoming of visitors, entertainment that almost matched the theater district, low lights and bright spot lights, etc. While there is nothing inherently wrong with any of the above methods, the relevant must be matched with the real. Young adults have been raised in a culture of distrust, dysfunction, and distaste. They are looking for something and someone that is real. The wrappings can be flashy or faded, but the contents must be authentic and genuine. Paul asked, “Do you look at things according to the outward appearance” (2 Cor. 10:7)? Could it be that we focused on the outward to the exclusion of the inward and in our zealous attempt to be relevant, we failed to be real?