The Church and 'Cultural Relevance'

"....The Bible doesn’t want to speak to the modern world; the Bible wants to convert the modern world."

"Our time as preachers is better spent acculturating modern, late-twentieth-century Americans into that culture called church. When I walk into a class on introductory physics, I expect not to understand immediately most of the vocabulary, terminology, and concepts. Why should it be any different for modern Americans walking into a church?

"This is why the concept of 'user-friendly churches' often leads to churches getting used. There is no way I can crank the gospel down to the level where any American can walk in off the street and know what it is all about within 15 minutes. One can’t do that even with baseball!" -- William Willimon

...from his truly prophetic essay, "The Culture Is Over-rated"