Keeping up to the "new thing"

One of the catch-words in church ministry these days is "cutting-edge." We are supposed to keep up to the latest and greatest if we are going to be effective. If we don't people will leave our churches and go to churches where they can find what they are looking for. In the book "Times of Refreshing" Arlen Salte wrote,

"One of the sobering realities that has come with being in full-time ministry so many years has been seeing the "hot" thing come and go. The inability to change and to stay fresh is one of the greatest challenges in ministry."

It seems to me that we have been lured into a superficial world where sacrificial life change is uncommon. Jesus called people to deny themselves and follow him. They were to take up their cross and follow him. "Blessed are the persecuted." I suspect that once we get back to a genuine life-change experience, there will be many in this world who will desire to experience what we are experiencing.As soon as I read that, I thought, "is that what church is supposed to be?" Is the church and the Christian life really so superficial that unless it keeps up to the latest 'fads' it will fail and die away? I hope not!