In our post-Christian culture, as we become increasingly Marxist, my vision for ministry is one of desperation. It is hard for me to watch Christendom crumble around me. So instead of worrying about the “Big Picture” and all the global nonsense, I have become convicted to focus on my sphere of influence which is primarily my family, the parish under my care and the community in which I serve. We do want to support those that are church planters and foreign missionaries, but in order to see the foundations restored, my task is local.
Recognizing the post-Christian character of our culture, my own philosophy is not to dumb-down the reformed message or adopt the trends of the present in order to “reach this generation.” I firmly believe the historic church has its own meta-narrative. We have our own legitimate vocabulary, traditions and story. In order to reach those in an increasingly post-Christian culture, I desire to see people come to church and feel as if they have stepped into another world. In my leading worship, I emphasize that when we gather together on the Lord’s Day, we are taken up in our call to worship to heaven in the communion of saints; we are assembled with the martyrs, angels and are in the presence of the Holy Trinity. All this is meta-empirical and supra-historical, but nonetheless very real. I do not de-emphasize the immanence in the transcendence, but underscore the later precisely because of the former.
I envision churches becoming cities of refuge; beacons on hills and the elders as watchmen on the walls. The church does not have to lose its historic worship, her language, her liturgics in order to be relevant. The Truth is the Truth and it is the same message properly expounded; it is the same proclamation that Jesus Christ came to save sinners and in that faithful exposition, God the Holy Spirit raises the dead, like Aslan in the castle of the White Witch—breathing on the statues—giving them faith and granting them repentance; calling the elect from the four corners of the earth. This happens every Sunday, every Sabbath of the New Creation. In our celebration of the Christian year, we offer a meta-narrative that transcends the gossip and mudslinging of the newsmedia and the profane idolatry of the entertainment industry. As we watch the deterioration of our culture, our church culture can provide an atmosphere of safety that transcends the aforementioned evils. The trends will come and go; sufficient for today is the evil thereof. The Church as the Church, anchored on Christ will weather the philosophical storms of the current age.
