THE RELEVANT CHURCH

Understanding the times, addressing the challenges facing this generation.

Qn: When is the Church (Body of Christ) relevant?

Relevant is when the world sees Jesus in you. (The light of the world, the salt of the earth)
(Romans 12,2Timothy 1:13, Titus 2&3, Matthew.5)

Jesus has chosen the church to be role models of the Divine life here on earth. In other words, as He is the only role model to the church, so is the church to the world.
We are ambassadors of Christ on earth meaning, our one and only duty is to represent Him and everything He stands for, which is why He is quick to emphasize in His word that; “though we are in the world, we are not of the world” (John.15.18-19).
Scripture teaches that we are the LIGHT of the world and the SALT of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16).
I strongly believe that we will only be relevant to this generation if we maintain the light of Jesus in our lives, when we let our light shine, “for no one lights a lamp and then hides it under a basket” (Matthew.5:15-16), as well as our saltiness. Remember salt is most commonly used as a flavor, medicine, and also a preservative. What we also need to know is that, when salt loses its saltiness, it loses value and is therefore rendered useless, meaning one might as well simply discard it. The bible warns that when we lose our saltiness, then we are of no value to the world. I believe that losing our saltiness, and when we allow our light to burn out, the world finds it a lot easier to trample us; they find it a lot easier to resist us, to reject the gospel which we not only confess but preach.
The only way to maintain saltiness and to keep the light of Christ burning in our lives is to remain in Jesus, in fellowship with His Spirit (John 15:1-8).
The world is not our inheritance, Eternal life is. In other words, we have no business trying to fit in with the world; instead we should be seeking to change the world through preaching and living out the Gospel, as opposed to flirting with the world. (Ephesians.5:7-11)

For Jesus Christ to see the Church as befitting to be role models is a real privilege, considering we once were as filthy as the world is, yet having been made righteous through His blood, we now share in His glory as He has not only changed our lives and chosen to duel in our hearts, but is also using us as vessels to spread His love-The gospel of Grace, whose end result is redemption-the Salvation of the lost.

The church needs to realize that we are the link between Jesus and the world.

The church is the only channel through which the world can see and experience godliness. Thus God is calling the church to that place where we can confidently seek out and ask the world to imitate us, as we follow Jesus Christ(Philippians.4:8-9,1corinthians 11:1).This requires us to live lives that reflect well upon the person and character of Jesus Christ. How ever for this to happen, the church also first has to experience the reality of God. For how can we prove the reality of his existence, without first experiencing His presence?
Yes we believe in Jesus and no doubt we love Him. But are we really experiencing the reality of His presence in our lives or do we just talk about Him because the pastor talks about God’s presence or because the bible teaches about it? Now be careful how you interpret this. I am not saying you need first to experience a physical manifestation of God’s presence and Power in order to believe that He is real. That would not be true for ours is a walk of faith and not sight or feelings.
Remember the bible is God’s infallible word; in fact, it is the perfect representation of the nature and life of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4). So we need to believe everything therein. However it costs the church nothing, to know that God has not only called us to read, but also to experience His word, to experience His kind of life, His Divine nature of which we are partakers through Life in Christ Jesus. (2Peter.1:3-4)

For the church to change the world, we need to live the Gospel. In order to become agents of Change, we must first be changed by the gospel we profess.

God expects the church to set trends for the world, yet in so many ways we have allowed the world to set trends for us. The church needs to know that we are the leaders and not the led. Allowing the world to lead us amounts to being led by ‘the blind man’ (Luke 6:39, Mathew 15:14). Make no mistake though, we who are in Christ are not blind, but the world is. Remember the things of the Kingdom of God have been revealed only to the body of Christ (1Corinthians 2: 6-16), yet many Christians world over continue to live their lives like blind people, lacking understanding of the scriptures.
Our trend is Christlikeness (godliness), which is the light by which we shine in the midst of the darkness; the wickedness which has so engulfed the earth.
This means, this gospel which we profess must produce results in our lives for all to see, because it is only through our actions (how we conduct our lives), that we can show the world the reality of the gospel. In other words, unless we witness change in our own lives, we can not really prove to the world that God changes, let alone that He is real.
However, let me also add that our good deeds or good works do not make us perfect, instead they are evidence that we have been perfected by Jesus Christ, that He resides in our hearts and that He is at work in our lives.

The church needs to note that God has not only called us to preach the Gospel, but to also live it out.

The question then is, how can we ensure that we maintain our relevance? Is it possible for the Church to exert greater influence as never before, considering the world is becoming ever more hostile to the gospel?

Without any doubt, yes! God has given us Power and Authority (2Timothy.7:6-14, 2Corinthians 10:1-6, Luke 1:9, 10:19,1John 4:4, Mark 16:15-17…), so when we exercise this Power and Authority which is on the inside of us, we will have the greatest influence ever witnessed in the history of the church. I believe God has called us beyond our church services, mid-week fellowships, telethons, and the like. I am convinced God is calling us to have a greater influence in all spheres of life including social, political and economic arenas. (Psalm.67)
Our influence is needed in all these areas if the church is truly going to impact this world for Jesus Christ.

However, we also need to note that, exercising the Power and Authority given us by Christ Jesus will not just happen out of the blue. God is no magician; we are not in a circus. This is spiritual war fare (Ephesians 6:10-18, 2Corinthians 10:1-6). This is the day for the church to seek the Lord’s face, to touch Heaven. We have not been called to be “churchy”, but to maintain union with Christ Jesus, through continual fellowship with His Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things concerning the Kingdom of God.
Only through continual fellowship with God will we be empowered to fully utilize the Power and Authority given us by Christ Jesus.

In other words, for all who desire to greatly impact the world for Jesus, if we (the Church) are going to be empowered; we have to diligently seek God so that He may continue to guide our paths, to reveal His purpose for our lives, to constantly renew our strength, to increase us in knowledge, wisdom and understanding, so we are able to rightfully discern the times we are in.

Jesus Christ believes in you whole heartedly, He has great faith in the Church, He has great expectations of the Church, and He has placed His hope in you.

In conclusion therefore, I believe if we (the Church) stay close to God, if we constantly seek the counsel of His spirit, if we maintain an intimate relationship with Him, there is no doubt we will be all that He desires us to be, we will boldly represent His Kingdom as He so very much desires, we will light up the earth, and the world will have no option but take notice of God’s presence and His glory in our lives.
There fore be encouraged; be strong and steadfast in your faith in Jesus Christ, do not lose heart, keep the fire burning, stay fervent in spirit, do not give up the battle yet. Together with Jesus Christ, we have it all under control, the world is ours to possess. Remember Jesus Christ believes in you whole heartedly, He has great faith in the Church, He has great expectations of the Church, and He has placed His hope in you, otherwise He would not have entrusted us with not only His word but all of creation. He would not have given His life for us; if He was convinced that His death on the Cross would in the end amount to nothing. He also would not have given us His Power and Authority, let alone allowed us to use them, if He didn’t think we had what it took to utilize them. I would want to believe that Jesus Christ knew back then, that one day, His Spirit would dwell in the Church, thus giving us the ability to deal with all the challenges we would face in life.
Isn’t it refreshing to know that Jesus Christ actually believes in you? Oh! What a friend we have in Jesus indeed.

Now is the time for the Church to rise up and shine for Jesus. Now is the time to rekindle the fire, this is the season to glow to the glory of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.
The Prophet Isaiah leaves no doubt in my mind that the time is now.
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side” (Isaiah.60:1-4)

Maintain Union with Jesus Christ and you will surely remain relevant to this generation.


Relevant is when people come to ‘church’ and meet Jesus.

Relevant is when Jesus is the product of our Ministry.

Relevant is when people not only witness miracles, but also see Jesus in the miracles.

Relevant is when the church/body of Christ addresses the needs of the people.


God bless you all.