The Fallacy of Relevancy

So, what's wrong with this picture?

Nothing.

Josh Elsom captured this moment; and a picture is worth a thousand words.

The picture reminds me of the old Sesame Street song, "One of these things is not like the others. Which one is different? Do you know?"Four kids on bikes. Their bikes are similar. Their clothing is similar. Their hats and sunglasses are similar. And standing in the midst of those four kids, proclaiming the Law and the Gospel, is Mark Mackey--a 57-year-old bread truck driver and evangelist.

Mark doesn't look like the people to whom he is speaking. He isn't dressed like them. He's old enough to be their father. And he doesn't have a spiffy BMX bike so that he can relate to them.

What Mark has, however, is of far greater value and is far more powerful than relevancy. The reason Mark was able to engage these four young people in spiritual conversation is simple, really. Mark loves God and loves people.

Mark long ago realized that he didn't have to be "of" the world in order to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Unlike so many so-called ministries these days that cater to the worldliness of the lost, Mark is modeling Christ-likeness in his evangelism efforts by speaking the truth in love.

Yes, it is true that those kids would have remembered Mark had he rode up to them on his own BMX bike, sporting the hair, clothing, and backward hat of a person 1/4 his age. They would have remembered how silly and unauthentic he looked.

Instead, what those kids will likely remember is that an older guy who they will never likely see again cared enough about them to speak honestly and lovingly to them about the things of God.

And it is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not worldly relevance, that the Lord uses to draw unbelievers to repentance and faith.

Thanks for your godly example, Mark.

-Tony Miano

The Lawman Chronicles