Epic is the kind of church...

The topic of "church" is such a loaded subject. We all approach it with perspectives that color our thinking and bring an immediate impression - good, bad, holy, irrelevant, vital....

I hope that Epic will always be the kind of church where people who feel far from God can come and find normal people living out their faith with honesty, transparency, and love. We try to speak a language that people understand - not use a bunch of religious terms that no one really can explain in normal English. Our music, our media, our messages are meant to be understood and relatable to anyone who comes. Otherwise, what's the point?

If we don't use the language of our culture, we can make a real mess in our communications. Like the Braniff International Airways advertising faux pas created when they claimed in Latin America that patrons could fly "en cuero." Braniff was talking about the comfy leather seats in the aircraft, but "en cuero" means "naked" in Spanish! Frank Perdue of Perdue Farms once claimed that "it takes a tough man to make a tender chicken." Translated to Spanish (which it was) the slogan reads, "it takes a sexually aroused man to make a chick affectionate." Then there was the Swedish furniture giant IKEA, which christened a set of office desks "FARTFULL," causing way too many giggles in the U.S.

Silly stuff - but these communication snafus illustrate how important it is to speak the right message in the right way. And Jesus was clear that reaching out to people and including them in the church family is important to him. The church needs to be a place where all are welcome, all are received, and all get the chance to experience God's best in their lives.

Growing up, I went to church every week. The service was only an hour long (shorter if I was lucky) and I didn't understand or pay attention to most of what went on during that hour. But going to church was a duty - a religious ritual that somehow made me "okay" in God's eyes for another week. Kind of weird thinking, isn't it - doing some meaningless task (albeit with a poor attitude) in an effort to please God - like that would make a difference?

Anyway, I remember church as boring and irrelevant. My fault? Sure! No doubt there was some good stuff being taught. But maybe at a church where extra effort is made to communicate in a way that draws even the unconvinced to give the message a listen, we can make a difference in the lives of more people. And that's what we want to do - is get the chance to earn a "listen" and engage hearts and minds in meaningful conversation.