To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: (2 John 1:1-2 nkjv)

    Relevant has apparently become a church buzzword. I looked at many contemporary church websites and found it used and maybe even overused. They advertise relevant teaching and relevant preaching. Webster's Dictionary defines relevant as -- Pertinent; applicable. The testimony is not relevant to the case. The argument is not relevant to the question. [This is the sense in which the word is now generally used.] 

   So, if some churches are relevant are there others that are not relevant, irrelevant, un-relevant, anti relevant? If there are, they don't choose advertise it. This word, so popular with churches, appears to be used to mean less different from your culture than you might think. It appears to refer primarily to style, and less to content. 

    Opponents to Christ and His church often argue that Christianity is no longer relevant. They

mock God and any thought of a being higher than a human. They proclaim that in modernity we have grown past the need for God, whom they call a mythical figure. All forms of human excess are proclaimed as good. Any thought of an abiding Truth, proclaimed by a loving God is dismissed prior to investigation and even mocked. By academics, secular humanists, and all who have found and love and have devoted themselves to something God calls sin, God and His Word have been declared irrelevant. It seems we live in a culture that screams, "How is God relevant to my life?" when they should be asking, "How is my life relevant to God?"

   In today's verse, John writes the opposite. He writes under the inspiration of Holy Spirit  -- To the elect lady and her children  (the church and Christian believers) -- whom I love in truth... John acknowledges that there exists a singular, relevant Truth, and he proclaims his love for all those who have found and latched on to this Truth. He makes it clear that he isn't just expressing his love to his friends at his home church -- but also all those who have known the truth... 

   This Truth John speaks of is both inclusive (another popular church buzzword) and exclusive saying -- because of the truth which abides in us. The Truth John speaks of is the Truth of a Father in heaven who so loved the world that He sent us Jesus to pay with His own life for our own sin. Its a simple truth, but more than many can bear. It is also exclusive, excluding many, but not by God's choice or through His wrath, but by their own choice through their rejection of the Gospel. It is not just to be included as equally relevant, but rather it is exclusively relevant. It always was relevant, is relevant, and always will be relevant. 

John wrote that the Truth of Christ -- will be with us forever. Truth lasts forever. Who Jesus is and what He has done for us will last forever. Who we are and how Jesus loves us and guides our lives deeper into His Truth will last forever. Bob Dylan wrote -- The times they are a-changin'. He was right. Most of what we can see with our eyes are temporal things, and temporal things (the times) they are changing and always will. Styles change. Social norms change. Our culture changes too, but the Truth as expressed and left for us in the bible, never changes. It will be with us forever. 

 Hold onto temporal things with a gentle grip. When they begin to slip away, let them. Latch onto eternal things, and never let go. If you do --  Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. (v3)

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