Cool vs. Effective

Read where Rick Warren said…“Concern: some churches would rather be creative and cute than effective; they prefer cool to effectiveness. Problem: most of the world is not “cool” and those churches become boutiques. (Eg, Wal-Mart is not cool.)” Thanks for the link Jeremy.

I agree.

Ever since I was a kid I have noticed and thought about how some people are cool. Well, sure I’ve wanted to be cool and maybe you could say I was -to some people (and maybe not to others), but generally I have always thought it was buggish as the English would call it.

I have friends in ministry who are really cool, but when I’m around some of them I feel an awkwardness that’s hard to describe. I feel a coldness. I have some ministry friends who do some really cool things and yes, who are really cool, but I don’t see the kind of life change described in the Bible oozing from within. I won’t dare criticize them because God uses all kinds of people. But I just want to look at them and ask them why I feel this way and why won’t they love and listen to everyone, not just the seemingly “important” people.

God addresses this in many passages. We are to maintain a balanced lifestyle of love and Truth. God’s movement is about trust and Truth, grace and love.

I have to admit I often feel tempted to try and be cool rather than effective. I am careful about who is on our team. I hope to build a team who wouldn’t know they are cool if they were, who just does what they can to reach real people.

The ultimate goal is always to not see the clothes we wear or the positions we’ve held. It’s to just see Jesus.