Nouwen -- Part 3

The first section of the book (3 chapters) is called From Relevance to Prayer. Here are a few highlights from the first chapter...

• the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her vulnerable self
• God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because He has created and redeemed us in love
• Jesus' first temptation was to be relevant; to turn stones into bread
• he clung to his mission to proclaim the Word and said, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God". (Matthew 4:4)
• it might seem that nowadays becoming a priest or minister is no longer something worth dedicating your life to
• The secular world around us is saying in a loud voice, "We can take care of ourselves. We do not need God, the church, or a priest. We are in control. And if we are not, then we have to work harder to get in control.
• while efficiency and control are the great aspirations of our society; the loneliness, isolation, lack of friendship and intimacy, broken relationships, boredom, feelings of emptiness and depression, and a deep sense of uselessness fill the hearts of millions of people in our success oriented world.
• the leaders of the future will be those who dare to claim their irrelevance in the contemporary world as a divine vocation that allows them to enter into a deep solidarity with the anguish underlying all the glitter of success, and to bring the light of Jesus there.

As I mentioned in a previous post, many of Nouwen's thoughts on leadership run somewhat counter to the current trends. While I see the need to not become out of touch, I truly believe that in the very near future we will see that the need and drive to do any and everything to become relevant to the culture will prove to be worth little. One thing that bothers me is that culture is continually changing. The message of the church should never be seen as changing. I agree that the methods must change with the times. I am afraid that in our zeal we often push way beyond what is called for. We are called to be different, and will thus stand out rather than blend in. We are not to be different for being different's sake but rather because what we have to offer is different. Sometimes, as with Jesus' temptations, the call to be relevant to the need or times pulls us a way from the primary mission. The church can easily fall into this trap and the distraction leads the work of the body to be more focused like pop psychology than the message of freedom in Christ. The delicate line must be watched over. When we want to do something just for the shock value or just for the sake of "making some noise" I think that it is time to reconsider what we have been called to do.