I am in that age group that grew up memorizing the Bible in the King James version but switched to the NIV at an early enough age that I use the NIV but have memorizations stemming from the KJV. One of the KJV words that always struck this young boy with confusion was peculiar in 1 Peter 2:9. Personally, I liked the idea of being called to be a strange, weird, or a different kind of person. I fit that description much better than royal or holy. I always felt like that was where I fit in. Strange. Weird. Different. It would be many years later when I would learn that the Greek word, peripoiesis, means possession, not strange.
The issue of relevancy seems to be the new go to subject in Christian circles. We need to find relevant ways to communicate the Gospel. We need relevant songs, relevant decor, relevant sermons, relevant language, relevant, relevant, relevant. To be evangelistic is to be relevant.
The discussion usually goes something like this. We need to present ourselves to the world in such a manner that we seem relevant. We need to speak their language. We need to offer them opportunities that they are interested in. We need to offer classes that meet their needs. We need to look like them. We need to act like them (when appropriate).
To be honest with you, I drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago. As a youth minister, I offered R-n-R as a program for many years that allowed kids to come and find involvement in relevant activities for suburban teens. We played basketball and volleyball. We had snacks and games. We listened to loud music and dressed like one of them. As a minister, I have preached on being a Green Christian and surviving breast cancer. I have listened to music I didn't like, watched movies I didn't care for, and attended seminars I hated with the hope of learning the language of relevance.
While you might suppose that this article is heading into relevance bashing mode, wait just a minute.
I do not think the issue of relevance is overblown or exaggerated. I do think the issue has gone off course. It has gone in the wrong direction. While peculiar may not mean strange, it does hold the idea of identifying with one the one who possesses us.
I believe in the relevancy of the peculiar. The issue that is truly relevant to Christianity is our peculiarity, our position as possession. We are relevant to pre-Christians because we are where they can be. We live in a place they can live. We find our peculiarity in our unrelevance to their world. We find common ground in our shared identity as persons created imago dei. We find connection, not in where they are but where we can all be. Our community is not found in their brokenness but in our redemption which is theirs. Our offer is not to share our tales of horror but the sacred story of hope. Our language is not of a dying world but a new home beyond the horizon. In truth, we become relevant by showing our unrelevance to their context. We certainly understand where they are, but our message is not one of identifying with where they are but anticipating their participation with us where we are. The message of redemption, not the unity of fallenness.
What fellowship does darkness have with light?
We should never become so relevant to the world that we become peculiar to the one who possesses us.
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