Relevance

If you are looking for relevancy, you can find it.  You can buy it from many willing vendors.

But if you are looking for God, relevancy is a trap.

There.  I have said it.  Simple, clean, and dangerous.  But there isn’t any sense in dancing around the issue.  Christianity is not about relevancy, it is about relationship.  One relationship.  A relationship with God.  And this relationship with the Creator of All is not amenable to being brokered by relevancy.

amenable means:  being open to . . . agreeable with . . . submissive under

brokering means:  working as an intermediary between two parties . . . negotiating bargains and

contracts . . . defining the stipulations under which two parties will function and relate

God is not open to working through the opinions, expectations, or desires of intermediaries.

God is not agreeable with negotiating bargains and contracts with cultural correctness, life scenarios, or personal preferences.

God is not submissive under stipulations placed upon Him by doctrines, revelations, experiences, or creeds.

God is not amenable to the brokering of my faith.

And God never bows to the will or the demands of relevancy.

Oswald Chambers explains the brokering of faith in this way:

One of the most striking features in Abraham’s life is its irrelevancy. . . The greatest thing in Abraham’s life is God, not “Abraham-ism.”  The whole trend of his life is to make us admire God, not Abraham . . . If you get off on the line of personal holiness or Divine healing or the Second Coming of Our Lord (or seeker-friendly services or crusades against legalism or mystic revelations of grace or unconditional acceptance of “alternate lifestyles,” I would add) and make any of these your end, you are disloyal to Jesus Christ.

So the real question, I might suggest, is where do we hang our hearts? 

There . . . at the place where we broker all of our hopes, dreams, relationships, and securities . . . on that hook that carries everything dear to us . . . is where we find relevancy.

Is our relevancy in God alone?

Cease striving and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Selah.
Psalms 46:10-11

My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah.
Psalms 62:5-8

I am a farmer.  I spend my days tending the garden, feeding the livestock, and stewarding what the Lord has so graciously given me.  We often have guests at Kirkhaven, and we enjoy the opportunity to share the Lord’s goodness with people He brings to us.  It is rare, however, that anyone would ever see the fruit of my labor or think to admire the work of my hands. 

But when I greet my mooing cattle each morning as they wait impatiently for my attention . . . when I weed and water my never-completely-manicured heirloom garden . . .  when I pet every hen as she sits on the roost each evening before I collect the eggs . . . whether I have cooked dinner for guests or only shared a meal with my dear husband . . . I know that I am completely relevant. 

Not because someone “liked” my status on Facebook that day.  Not because someone gave my blog a glowing review.  Not because I was attractive or hot or witty or talented or noticed.  Not because any broker of any group or viewpoint or church thinks that I am special or anointed or noteworthy. 

I know that I am relevant because I have walked with God today.  We have fellowshipped.  He rejoiced with me . . . or cried with me . . . or supported me when I struggled . . . or forgave me when I repented . . . or simply filled my daily tasks with the fragrance and joy of His sweet presence.

HE is my relevance. 

I rest my heart in Him.

photo by Sally Coad