Riding the Soul Tsunami
This article was originally posted in the Athabasca Advocate on June 24, 2005
Of all the things I hear about the church from people (and believe me, as soon as they find out that I’m a pastor I hear a lot), the thing that most breaks my heart is when people say, “Church? Ah, that’s old news. Irrelevant. I can’t be bothered.” The reason it grieves me so deeply is because they are so wrong… and so right at the same time.
The message of the church, the love and grace of God given to us screwed up human beings in the form of Jesus Christ, is even more important in today’s world then ever before. People from all walks of life, in all age groups and countries around the globe are feeling a sense of hopelessness and fear. Young people especially are looking for answers to the deepest questions a person can ask - questions of morality, spirituality, and eternity. Sociologists agree that we live in the most spiritually hungry generation in the last 500 years. The church and the God we follow couldn’t be more relevant!
Unfortunately, churches have done a poor job of letting people know how relevant the Good News is. Whether from ignorance, fear, or just plain animosity, churches around the western world have placed barriers between the God who so loved the world that he sent his Son, and those whom his Son came and died for. Now, please don’t think I’m blaming the church… the world changed on it. The post-modern shift our entire global society is undergoing means that for the new generations, the old ways don’t connect. Like offering a jacket to someone dying of thirst, the church is often offering something that the lost aren’t searching for.
But the situation is not hopeless. On the contrary, I’m filled with excitement and joy when I look at the church, because we are starting to realize that something needs to be done to share the message of God’s grace with those who are in the most need of it. Organizations like Youth for Christ strive to work with the church by bridging the gap and making connections between youth and the Body of Christ. Churches are continuing their great ministries to the modern generations while planting churches to reach the post-modern ones. These are things happening in our very community, so we have much to celebrate!
Whenever the world experiences a huge cultural shift like the one we are going through now, it creates confusion and change everywhere – the church is no exception. But I am so lucky to be able to serve a God who has an unchanging message of love and holiness for the world. It’s an unchanging message that can be delivered in ever-changing ways, so that it can ride the soul-tsunamis of our time. And I know that if we the church do our jobs, the story and sacrifice of Jesus will never be in danger of becoming irrelevant.
