There is an advertisement that shows a couple preparing for some dinner guests. This is more than the average dinner prep. They are frantically zipping around their kitchen, stressed about the fact that “the people are coming!” They grab piles of clutter and shove them into the nearest drawer that might have space, whether or not the items belong there. As one of them opened the dishwasher to dump in an armload of stuff, there is a stuffed animal already there, in a temporary hiding spot.
In the closing moments of the scene, they grab a red pen and change the grade on a child’s test paper stuck to the fridge. The couple nods to each other in satisfaction that they’ll look more appealing as a family. Never mind that their child didn’t actually earn this fake grade.
In overextending their efforts to be relevant, they became irrelevant because it wasn’t real.
Though this earth is full of billions of people, we’re hearing of isolation and loneliness more and more. We tend to keep more things bottled up inside ourselves because we think that no one else could possibly understand. Out of seven billion plus people, we are tempted to believe that we’re the only one with that experience or feeling.
The best way for us to be relevant is to be real. This does not mean that you should overexpose your business to everyone in great detail. Rather, be honest. Be yourself.
Likewise, the best way for us to be relevant as Christians is to be real. In our efforts to hide all the flaws, shortcomings and sin, we become irrelevant. We forget that God shines best through our stories of transformation and conversion. His power is magnified when we walk with confidence as God’s forgiven and most beloved children.
Let’s do our best to show that God is still as relevant today as He was when He spoke this world into existence. Let’s praise and share the wonderful things He has done just for us. Let’s also share our prayer requests and hold each other accountable in our struggles.
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Sabrina Jacques-Rowe
Communication Leader
Henderson Highway Church