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There are two ways to live life. One is to live as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is to live as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein
Let me first start by saying that I really dont know the answer to this question. I do, however, have some thoughts as to how it might start.
I have a brother, Tim. Tim's really into trendy things. He likes things that are cool, not really cause they're all that great, but just cause they're cool. I think its a little silly, but he apparently thinks I'm a little silly. The other day he told me he likes pumas because they're "all the rage these days". I've never heard anyone actually say that phrase before. I told him I think he's dumb. He told me I'm being ignorant and not looking at what everyone else likes. I dont care what everyone else likes, I tell him. You gotta learn to be more accepting of people's ideas! he tells me. I hit him in the arm. He took me to a puma store and bought me some pumas. He thinks they look great. They're not very comfortable.
I started thinking though, that maybe he really is on to something. Not with the pumas, cause I still dont like mine all too much, regardless of the fact that he paid for them. But about analyzing what people think is cool and aligning yourself with that. Of course, I think its silly to wear shoes that aren't comfortable just cause everyone else thinks its cool, but the fundamental root of the issue remains the same - that people like things that are cool.
Well that made me think about how things become cool. How did the iPod get so cool? Why do so many people only drink Starbucks? Why does everybody wish they had a motorcycle as cool as mine?
I think the answer lies in really considering the question. What does it mean for something to be cool?
1) It means that lots of people believe that it solves some sort of problem for them. One of the critiques I've heard about many big tech companies is that they create a solution, then try to find a problem that it can solve. But, as Seth Godin says in his talk to Google employees, this isn't the way to do business. And it definitely isn't the way to make something cool. Though this fact seems often overcast when we think about it, if people have no need for your product, they're not going to get it. (This of course, is not the case when your product already is cool - people will buy it and create a need for it, just so that they can be cool too).
2) Those who like it are passionate and active about promoting it. You dont have to ask my brother about his favorite shoes, or what coffee he drinks, or how often he snowboards. He talks about it. All the time. The minute I got here, I told him I wanted to buy my motorcycle. He told me I was stupid, and that I should snowboard instead. I told him motorcycling is more fun. He said I should wait till I snowboarded to decide that. Now I snowboard and everyday he asks me if he can ride my motorcycle to work. We need another motorcycle.
So if we apply these two simple principles to the Church, we'll see that the first thing we need to do is to figure out what people need. What issues are on people's hearts? My pastor Mike at Overlake Christian Church says that no matter how much we care for people, God cares more. No matter how much we care for our world, God cares more. People need to know that.
Next we need people who are passionate about God to go and share that with people. We need to have a relationship with God that is real. I can talk to people for hours about my girlfriend Clara cause I adore her. I've convinced some of the guys (and almost one girl!) at work to take the motorcycle rider's class, cause I love biking. I think people love to talk about the things that they love.
So really, this becomes an issue of helping people at Church really love Jesus and experience a real relationship with Him. Its like Donald Miller says in Blue Like Jazz. You live for what you believe in. You are willing to die for these things. What are we willing to die for? Are we willing to die for Jesus? Do we know Him well enough even to humor the thought?
I suppose at the very end of the day (and of my rambling here), it really does boil down to ourselves. It all starts with you, with me. How do we make the Church cool? By getting to know Jesus ourselves, and by coming to realize that He's a great guy, and wanting our friends to meet Him.
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