a
d
Over the past three decades the Church has spent the majority of its time and resources maintainting its "relevance" before an ever changing culture. It's proven very difficult for the Church to keep up. Usually, by the time we arrive the culture has moved on. By the time we greeted a prosperous and modernized America with the church growth model, the culture changed. When we sought to satisfy its consumer preferences with a seeker sensitive emphasis, it changed preferences on us. Then there was the seeker-therapeutic approach attempting to satisfy the narcissistic bent of American individualism. Not surprisingly, the culture found something else. These efforts are now relics. They're still around in various forms, but for the most part they're yesterday's models for bygone trends. The culture has moved on. The church has gone back to the drawing board.
Over these many years the questions regarding effective ministry have dramatically changed. Once we asked, "What does God desire of His people?" Now we ask "What do the people desire of their God?" We have displaced the true Center, God Himself. Is not our greatest purpose and design as the Church to glorify God? Should not God rather than man be the starting point for what the Church should be? Is not the Glory of God in the sacrifice of His Son the most relevant message we have? Should we not be God-centered?
Over the past three decades the Church has spent the majority of its time and resources maintainting its "relevance" before an ever changing culture. It's proven very difficult for the Church to keep up. Usually, by the time we arrive the culture has moved on. By the time we greeted a prosperous and modernized America with the church growth model, the culture changed. When we sought to satisfy its consumer preferences with a seeker sensitive emphasis, it changed preferences on us. Then there was the seeker-therapeutic approach attempting to satisfy the narcissistic bent of American individualism. Not surprisingly, the culture found something else. These efforts are now relics. They're still around in various forms, but for the most part they're yesterday's models for bygone trends. The culture has moved on. The church has gone back to the drawing board.
Over these many years the questions regarding effective ministry have dramatically changed. Once we asked, "What does God desire of His people?" Now we ask "What do the people desire of their God?" We have displaced the true Center, God Himself. Is not our greatest purpose and design as the Church to glorify God? Should not God rather than man be the starting point for what the Church should be? Is not the Glory of God in the sacrifice of His Son the most relevant message we have? Should we not be God-centered?
The Nashville Conference on the Church and Theology is an opportunity to restore the Center. NCCT 09 is aimed at helping us rediscover the transforming effect of God's Glory. It is a call to personal reformation. This conference is for preacher, leader and layman alike, all wrestling with the same issues facing the Church and their heart. Join us as we "declare the excellencies of Him who has called us."
a