unrelated ideas?

"The church's unwitting capitulation to powerful cultural forces has caused it to lose its prophetic, other-worldly voice. We must remember that we are the people of the future formed by the past, and living in the present." - W. Tullian Tchividjian

I got this quote from a missions conference recently... during the same session, I wrote these things down that I heard said...

'We must not be so pipelined (tunnel-visioned?) in our vision to reach the lost that we lose sight of who we are as the Church of Jesus Christ.' - This comment is aimed at causing the church to consider how its tactics to reach the lost have caused it to lose some sight of itself, who she is, and how she should live. I think a good challenge... then I, days later, in reviewing these ideas thought this...

The church should be involved in the world, in culture, flavoring the world, but this should be done in such manners which hold her true to who she is... The spotless bride of Christ.

Thus one must consider what is appropriate for this bride to be a part of? How can this be clearly seen day-to-day? The bride has mandates from her groom. To be holy as he is holy, thus demonstrating she is his. As a bride is set apart at a wedding from the guests, so is the bride set apart from the world by her robes of righteousness. This bride is set apart but not removed, indeed, after the wedding she may walk down the aisle and smilingly acknowledging some of the guests present. At the reception, she and her groom mingle with all present, thanking them for their participation, their presence, their friendship. She radiates happiness and joy. People are happy to meet her because of her joy. The friends that surround her. Some from the past, some new, some will be around in a few years, some will not... What is the impact of this day and its memory on them? How will her reaction to them impact how they view her and her groom? Would they, having seen her, cause them to wish to be friends with them? Consider these questions in light of the fact that if you are a follower of Jesus, you are the part of the bride of Christ...

How does these 'unrelated ideas' inform us about the impact of the church? What lessons can we learn from this? Several, I hope. I hope to consider these ideas in the future... The plan of the wedding. The cost of the wedding. The gown/robe she wears. The joy she shows. Her attractiveness.