Christian blogger Josh Buice has a problem with attempts by some to repackage and rebrand the gospel to make it more appealing to people, arguing that the true meaning of the word is overpowered by style.
Writing in the Delivered by Grace blog, Buice said pastors and faith leaders should accept the fact that the gospel will never be cool and urged them to stop trying to give Jesus a makeover.
"We can dress up the gospel in modern clothes and repackage it to an urbane culture, but at the end of the day – it's still the gospel. It doesn't matter if ministers grow long beards, dress in hipster attire, drink beer in study groups, and have a cigar lounge on their church campus – the gospel will never be cool and hip to a lost world," he said.
Buice said those who try to dress up the gospel with fancy clothes, stage design, tattoo parlors or smoking lounges may actually be attracting a different crowd than what they are expecting as the good news is lost in all the other things going on.
"They may compliment our tattoos and smoke our cigars, but they will never like our gospel. If you're known for what you smoke and what you drink rather than the gospel you embrace, that's a problem," he said.
He said that success in ministry is not dependent on appearances but rather in a true commitment to the gospel and a willingness to follow Jesus.
Crosswalk Entertainment Editor Ryan Duncan agreed with Buice and said that at the end of the day, it's not how Christians hold their Bible while drinking their coffees that inspire others to believe in Jesus but rather their true heart to seek God.
"Believers shouldn't care what the world thinks of them, what's important is what God thinks. Christ has called us to be holy and devoted to Him. To live in such a way that His love is reflected onto everyone we meet. This is no easy task, society may call us strange, but the faithfulness of Christ will continue to speak long after modern trends have passed away," he said.
