Context Is Everything

Years ago, I watched a video of a church service at the request of a friend. He had been attending a new church after tiring of the flash and preaching style of the pastor at an evangelical church he had recently left.

My friend’s new adventure was a traditional mainline church. The order followed this pattern: a prelude, a welcome, a Bible reading, a hymn, confession, the passing of the peace, a choir song, another hymn, the offering, a choir song, a scripture reading, a short message, a final hymn, and a benediction to finish. 

The single live camera was a wide-angle shot from the church’s balcony. Seated below were twenty-two adults, all in their seventies and eighties, in a sanctuary that could probably seat two hundred and fifty. The pastor—in his early forties—spoke for 25 minutes. His sermon was engaging, articulate, and inclusive, elucidating a particular New Testament passage. Interestingly, it was compellingly constructed to be understood by someone outside the faith, with his offhand comments revealing a self-deprecating relatability. The message was intended to connect people who perhaps had little-to-zero personal faith with Jesus, helping them find a transformative path forward via the Spirit.

And that’s when a cognitive dissonance hit me.

You could place that pastor and that message inside an average “contemporary church” (you can define that loosely) and it would feel right at home. What’s more, in that room a number of people outside the faith would find his message challenging and invitational.

I cannot assess the heart and assignment of this pastor; perhaps he felt called to these twenty-two seniors. No judgment here—they need pastoring too. But the message was out of context.

The church was aging out, and no one wanted to challenge the status quo. It will, sadly, disappear in ten years. No matter how invitational and proclamatory his message was, there was simply no one to hear it who needed to hear it.

If a tree falls in the woods…

Context is everything. Two quick thoughts here:

First, how often do churches take a hard look at their mission and the subsequent messaging to support that mission? If the average Sunday message aligns with their overall mission, then how does everything around it support it? What is the context surrounding that primary call? Does it make sense?

Second—and this is an aside—sometimes larger contemporary churches are accused of being performative. The room is hazed, robotic lights are moving, a full band is performing a set with Ableton tracks/stems, announcements are kept to a minimum, a video bumper introduces the message topic, and a pastor presents an absorbing message designed to encourage attendees to share their faith or bring their peers into this attractional setting. It has the feeling of a show…a “concert-like” performance.

Not necessarily my cup of tea.

But let’s be honest: so, too, was the traditional model I viewed. Except for the few inserted times when the audience read a responsive line, everything else was a presentation for an audience to simply attend, sit semi-quietly, and observe. It was built for spectatorship.

Both could be accused of being performative.

This second point will be expanded on in a future post—but I just didn’t want to miss the obvious here.

Leaders and communicators, think hard about your context. Does it support your mission and message?

Dave Workman | The Elemental Group

---

Want to receive these posts weekly in your inbox? Subscribe for free here.