Cool Factor

Relating with culture gets most of the hype, but relating with God is what matters.

On Thursday, I spent time with Britt Hancock, a missionary that reaches small villages in the mountains of Mexico. He drives a truck, wears a knife, and sounds like he’s; well, from the mountains of Mexico. Yet, he oozed phrases that pierced my heart. They were not ideas he had read on the latest blog or ministry conference, but ideas he had wrestled with in prayer. An hour with him caused my heart to soar with faith.

There’s a lot of emphasis on being culturally cool in youth ministry these days and I’m for it. I’m for wearing hair over your ears, shirts from the Buckle, and really cool jeans. [That’s cool in suburban Colorado Springs. I’m not sure what is in your context.] Yet, I’m more and more convinced everyday that knowing God in a dynamic way trumps being culturally cool. People are thirsty for spiritual reality and desperate for God in their lives.

We have to fight to keep our priorities in the order right:
1) Faithful to Jesus [Word of God alive in the heart, praying, fasting, righteousness, etc.]
2) Fresh in our times [culturally cool]