When I was a new father, one of the things that scared me more than anything was when one of my children got a little too close to the edge. Whether it was on the second floor balcony, or at the park on a jungle-gym, seeing them get too close made me nervous.At the same time, I’ve always wanted to be “edgy” myself. I’ve wanted to push myself to the limit and also have embraced a faith that I wanted to be “edgy” as well. Edgy to me meant that I was actually trying to live my faith and when I preached, to teach others to embrace the real Jesus over man-made religion.
Churches try to be “edgy” and it may work for them if their purpose is to be different or noticed. Often, the objective is all about numbers and numerical growth. It’s been my experience however that other than attracting a crowd, “edgy” is just as likely to get you too far away from being truly grounded in the gospel and being truly useful in ministry.
Today we have all kinds of churches: Seeker, traditional, liturgical, postmodern, emerging, post-liberal, neo-conservative, neo-evangelical and all kinds of phrases and descriptive terms that are being used to describe the variations. The definitions for these terms are likely being debated by people that haven’t had a real job in a very long time; and may likely need to get a life as well.
Recently (actually daily), it seems like I’m being reminded that I’m called to ministry, which basically means I’m called to serve. The best way that I can serve is to be prayerful, available and open to whatever God wants to accomplish in and through my life. Churches that want to be serving as well should consider how well they are reaching both saint and sinner, how effective they are in transforming people spiritually, and how God is receiving glory in the process.
