You know. Jesus was pretty darn awesome and he hung out with all the movers and shakers in first century Jewish society – so we should totally do the same with our ministries… no wait. That’s not right. An Acts 29 church planting screener has pointed out that a number (all is a number) of the planting candidates he’s interviewed have the same missional passion – the desire to see cool people saved.
It’s amazing how many young pastors feel that they are distinctly called to reach the upwardly-mobile, young, culture-shaping professionals and artists. Can we just be honest? Young, upper-middle-class urban professionals have become the new “Saddleback Sam”.
Seriously, this is literally the only group I see proposals for. I have yet to assess a church planter who wants to move to a declining, smaller city and reach out to blue collar factory workers, mechanics, or construction crews. Not one with an evangelsitic strategy to go after the 50-something administrative assistant who’s been working at the same low-paying insurance firm for three decades now.
His conclusion is just as on the money.
It could be that we’re simply following in the footsteps of the church growth movement that we’ve loved to publically criticize while privately trying to emulate – we’ve just replaced Bill Hybels and Rick Warren with Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll.
In the Australian context it’s probably not so bad – but it’s just something to remember. Jesus loves city people, young professionals, farmers, retirees and the homeless. Our ministries should love those people too.
* Check out the King Missile song by this name if you haven’t already discovered it.
Comments
So the A29 guy is gonna minister to the blue collar workers and teach them how to use iPhones and wear cool clothes?
Only if you think not using iPhones and wearing cool clothes is sinful.
If sin is "missing God's standard" are you suggesting that given the choice between a celebration of his creation, and a bastardisation of it, God would drink Nescafe?
God's holiness precludes the option of him drinking instant coffee.
King Missile!
Sounds like the article is making a great point…. but should we remember that Jesus loves Nescafe drinkers too?
Yes Mikey, Jesus loves all sinners – and he calls them to repent.
Yes. People in ministry desperately trying to be cool in order to reach the lost are assuming that most of the lost are cool. Which is not very accurate.
I reckon one of the big problems with targeting cool people is that cool people rarely risk anything for the sake of the gospel — being cool is just too hard to keep up if you're also making self-sacrificial decisions for the sake of others. It seems that if you want to reach the world, not just the cool, then you don't start by targeting cool people!