by Kary Oberbrunner
pub. Relevant Books, (C) 2004, 174 pages
Comments: (updated August 30, 2004)
When you get down to it, “relevance is really all about love” (p. 84). This love must be holistic because partial love offends God and it makes us think we’re better off than we are. Partial love is idolatry, and the most fundamental idolatry today is Lordless salvation—thinking we can accept Jesus as Savior without obeying him as Lord. It doesn’t work that way and relevance doesn’t happen that way.
The other part of relevance is loving people. Loving people starts with loving yourself. Oberbrunner’s statement on p. 118 puts it well: “The people most loving in life are those who don’t have to prove who they are. Rather they already know who they are.”
Journeying towards relevance requires integrating faith and life. This means, first, that we must have a grasp of faith. This comes from studying scripture. You can’t integrate what you don’t know.
Bottom line:
The status of a transformist is only maintained; it’s never attained this side of heaven.You may lose something.
You will gain something.
You will fail.
Be a student. Learn God. Learn culture.
Redeem the day.
Within your sphere of influence: Love God. Love people. Balance faith and culture. Tell the stories.
“Remember, as transformists… We don’t need to have everything figured out, for that would mean we’re separatists. We don’t need to say anything goes, for that would mean we’re conformists” (p. 191).
Oberbrunner lays out a tough plan. He pokes around in uncomfortable places. Definitely a good book to read again.
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