Moody Radio - Witnessing in the CTA Subways

Mark Elfstrand interviewed Matthew Rivera on Moody Radio about open air preaching and evangelism in the C TA subways with Student Outreach.

Moody Radio Student Outreach spot Mp3:

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Relevance: worthy ideal or contemporary idol?

by John Clark, instructor of theology at Moody Bible Institute

      If our Christian witness is to be credible and compelling, we must adapt to our cultural context but never adopt our cultural context. 

      We ought not to look for common ground upon which to identify with our culture, for our identity is found elsewhere. Rather, we ought to look for strategic points of contact with our culture, points at which the Gospel might address the specific issues and predicaments of our day so as to critique, challenge and, by the mercy and might of the Spirit, overturn the unbelief and error of our non-Christian contemporaries. When Christians do not adapt to their culture in such a way, they fail to communicate. When Christians adopt their culture, they obscure or even forfeit the substance of the Gospel. 

      As a case in point, consider the contemporary church’s prevailing preoccupation with so-called relevance. To be sure, relevance, rightly understood, is a good thing. So is our desire to be timely and pertinent. Then what is the problem? Listen carefully to current Christian sermonizing and song writing. Look closely at current Christian literature or at the current state of the church in general. The problem is that we, like our non-Christian contemporaries, tend to associate “relevance” with the cutting edge and the latest trend. That is, we tend to adopt contemporary culture’s misguided understanding of relevance, and thus we uncritically pursue an unworthy ideal. Worse still, we tend to believe that this so-called relevance will grant us legitimacy with our non-Christian culture, and thus we faithlessly forge a contemporary idol.

      Yet relevance, rightly understood, bears little to no resemblance to contemporary culture’s concept of it. According to the Latin term relevāns, relevance describes something which relieves, something which lifts or lightens a burden. What are the burdens of our day that need to be lifted or lightened? Ironically, one such burden is our misguided understanding of relevance, which saddles us, under the guise of significance, to the tyranny of the transient, the trendy and the trivial. Most importantly, however, we need to be relieved of fear, shame, alienation and meaninglessness—those pervading byproducts of sin which incessantly lap at our lives. 

      Therefore, that which is most relevant to our contemporary culture is that which has eternal significance: namely, the Gospel, for the Gospel acquaints us with and conforms us to the living Lord—Jesus Christ—who confronts and overturns the idols of this and every age.

Dr. John Fuder leaves 17-year legacy of urban evangelism at Moody Bible Institute

With a vision for outreach and a zeal for equipping the saints, John Fuder, Moody Theological Seminary (MTS) professor of urban studies, leaves a legacy of 17 years. In the fall, Fuder will transition to teaching as an adjunct professor. He explained that his current program of urban studies will be combined with the intercultural studies major as part of a curriculum merger with MTS-Michigan. “The overall challenge is the economy,” he explained. “We needed a core curriculum to apply to both campuses.”


Serving with Moody since 1994, Fuder initiated the urban studies program on the graduate level. It evolved as he connected graduate students with ministry internships in the city. He noted, “I saw the need for urban outreach and thought, ‘God really wants us to have broken hearts over these people.’”


In 1996, the Summer Olympics were in Atlanta. Fuder and Michael McDuffee, professor of theology, saw the opportunity for ministry. With 30 students, they began a five-week endeavor to evangelize on the streets of Atlanta. They received training to preach in the open air and engaged people in conversation. Fuder recalled the group was born out of a desire to “provide output after having received so much input from our classes.”


From this team of students developed Moody’s Student Outreach group, whose focus is to share the gospel and equip believers in evangelism. Alongside Fuder, many of these students initiated the annual event known as Service in the City, which is meant to expose students to different cultures and intentionally partner with churches. “God gripped hearts and bent students toward a greater sense of compassion for the city,” he said. “They were gaining a broader understanding of justice, speaking up for those who couldn’t speak for themselves.”


Fuder and his wife will be working for a non-profit organization, equipping the body of Christ for justice and compassion ministries. He will also be training believers at Park Community Church in Chicago and engaging in ministry with various campuses.


Fuder most clearly saw the Lord at work during his service at Moody through “witnessing the impact of students applying the Word of God,” he said. “God’s heart still breaks for those that are hurting. He wants to do greater things in our city.”