Note: Much credit to IX Marks, a ministry I love and respect, for the inspiration for this post. I agree with most of what they wrote...maybe they will agree also with me? I added #7 of my own accord.
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Being an uncool pastor is not the power of God for salvation—the gospel is. If
we think that the success of our evangelistic efforts depends on the communication style we don't care about, we are missing it. We should just flow without any style so we can be sure the only thing that is attractive to anyone are Bible words. We should write them on vellum and keep them in our room. We want to show that our trust is in the power
of God’s Word working by God’s Spirit, so we want to be as awkward and uncool as we can be so to be sure about this.
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Being disconnected to the culture is a double-edged sword. Though you can be sure you don't look cool, are not compelling, and be ignorant of what people care about, you might still be human enough to be in real relationships with sinners. Just don't be cool about it. Make them read the vellum if they want you to watch movies.
- Our desire to be uncool may reflect more pride than we’d like to admit.
Let’s say you want to be pure, unaffected by the culture and only have heaven oriented slang, dress and style. Is your desire to cultivate that image
driven by a desire to save the lost or a desire for people to like you? Or maybe to have God like you more than he likes cool pastors.
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Much pastoral ministry is profoundly cool.
Preaching the cross is the power of God to save people is really cool.
Moreover, faithfully pleading with others to repent of their sins and
be reconciled to God requires a pastor to be earnest and enthusiastic (aka cool) in
a way that is utterly at odds with the ironic detachment that being
uncool requires. If you define cool as ironic detachment that is not cool.
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We must never despise “cool” brothers and sisters in Christ. The more we try to be uncool ourselves, the more we’ll be tempted to look down on Christians who are not like us. Like those who have lots of tattoos.
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Being unlike the culture can make it hard for others to see the gospel. The
more we understand the world and its definition of “cool,” the less
attractive we should find it. In fact, in a society that is increasingly
morally and spiritually bankrupt, it may be our identification with people in culture that serves to highlight the gospel. Rather than trying to be
uncool, pastors should lead their churches to cultivate a living presence with people in their own culture (to borrow from God's example in the incarnation) that points to a
gospel that is genuinely different from what the world believes. It also will have the body of Christ walking among people in every day life. If we are unlike the culture they cannot hear us, see us or understand us...which makes it hard for them to see the gospel.
- We should be cool and uncool like Jesus and Paul - Jesus became one of us in this world, in culture, with people in culture, hanging out with cool and uncool, the outcast, the one's with tattoos and no tattoos, loving the lost and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. We should also be cool and uncool like the apostle who for the sake of the gospel became all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some. And he knew cool poems that the kids listened to also...which is kinda cool. He also preached the Christ crucified for sinners and the cross as the only grounds for justification by faith...which is really cool.
