I am probably going to open up a big can of worms, but I’m curious what others think about the term “Seeker Sensitive” when it applies to church. (Sorry if the picture is offensive to some. I found it and thought it was kind-of funny.)
The term “seeker sensitive” might have a different meaning for each one of us.
Here is my experience with this term. I once belonged to a traditional, denominational church. Along came a new pastor who liked Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. That was the first time I remember hearing this term. It seemed to stir up quite a “stink” with some of the elders at this church. We had one precious deacon/elder who found Jesus at Hybels’ church. I don’t know of many people who are more mature than this brother in Christ. Do I think people get saved in Seeker Sensitive churches? Yes.
I know there are arguments on both sides of the fence. I do have to say that when we moved on to a more “seeker sensitive” church (not where we attend now) it seemed so strange to me. There were props on the “stage” and it just didn’t seem right. Since when was the Word of God not enough?
Ok, don’t get me wrong. I sit in a cushy movie theater type of chair each Sunday. I hear an awesome band that leads me into wonderful times of worship … definitely a setting that is pleasing to anyone.
I guess my personal understanding of Seeker Sensitive is not doing anything that might be too deep or scary for non-Christian visitors. Cutting worship short so that we won’t be in a service too long. Serving more milk than meat — so the babies won’t choke. Again — when was the Word of God not enough? When did “man” know more than the Holy Spirit?
Why do people try to place God in a box? Why can’t we worship until we rise ABOVE our circumstances? Why can’t each meeting be totally led by the Holy Spirit?
Blech. I just don’t get it.
Don’t get me wrong. Is church supposed to meet our needs? NO. We have to be responsible to seek after the Lord each day of the week. Our pastors can never be the Holy Spirit for us.
Jesus never seemed concerned about miracles “freaking out” people. Have you ever read where someone in the bible apologized for praying in tongues? Didn’t Paul say to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gifts of prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1)? If we are to desire these gifts, I would assume we should USE these gifts to build up the body (the Church), right?
Did Jesus ever look around to see who might witness him casting out a demon — out of concern that they might not understand?
I think we (men/women) “worry” too much about what others think. God is more than able to defend Himself and handle every situation. If churches fear what man may think — does that mean that “man” has become an idol? Aren’t we supposed to fear God alone?
I greatly desire to see the Church move in what God has for her. I want to see a victorious Bride. The youth today need to understand the supernatural in a biblical way — not through the New Age movement, Wicca, etc …
I don’t know. Those are just some of my thoughts. My friend and I were discussing this so I thought I’d put it out there to hear some feedback. Feel free to share your thoughts — whether you disagree or agree.
Oh, we should sit and talk about this some time! I think if we were more sensitive to the Holy Spirit this would be so much less of an issue. Don't get me started! Great post
My friend Nan at Momstheword left her comment on my facebook re: this subject. I wanted to share it here for all to read: From Nan:
I, too, believe it's totally wrong to water down His Word.
I don't believe that a church needs to be glitzy and have props and motorcycles and things on the stage in order to be exciting and attract people.
Isn't that the Holy Spirit's job? Our job is to love and welcome those that the Spirit of God brings through the doors.
Our friends used to go to a nearby church. One day the pastor said that they were no longer going to use the word "sin" on Sundays.
He said that they did not want to offend any new visitors to the church. So he would no longer talk about sin.
He also told the people that if they wanted any "meat" that they could come to church Wed. night. He said Sundays were reserved for visitors and he didn't want to offend them by talking about sin.
After much prayer, discussion with the pastor and the elders, and pointing them to Scripture, our friends left their church.
It's a sad day when a pastor doesn't want to offend anyone by talking about their need for salvation.
I totally agree with you sis, love you.
I do not know what I really feel about the seeker friendly type of Church as to whether it is right or wrong. I would tend to be more on the side of it being wrong, except that I have seen people get saved in those type of churches too so tends to make it not so wrong, obviously. All I know is that I would not want to be a part of one because I desire to go to church and be fed a good meal not be entertained by lights and glamor and perfect musical set. I just want a family that hungers and thirsts after righteousness and not just outward looks that are just whitewashed tombs with dead people inside of them. 🙂
I have visited some of those Seeker Friendly churches and left shaking my head. I have been in several where the Bible wasn't even opened. It left me very sad for the state of the church in America.
I am sure there is some good in them and people do get saved. But it still leaves me sad. God is so much more and it makes me sad to see people put Him in a box. I don't want to settle for less than Truth.
Beth,
My wife and I attended Church on Easter Sunday with family out of town. It was the second time that I had been to this particular Church. The first time there I felt as if I was at some sort of theatrical performance. I attributed this to my own skewed perspective and did not really think anymore about it…Until Yesterday. I felt as if something was just off with the entire service. Don't get me wrong, there wasn't anything bad or terrible about it…Just extremely lacking in scripture, no thought provoking sermon, No MESSAGE to ponder or reflect upon…On EASTER of all times. I felt guilty all of yesterday and most of today because I felt as if I was being judgmental or critical. Well after reading your blog and the others comments I realize that I wasn't being either of those things. I was simply disappointed that the opportunity to expirience Gods word, in Gods house on the day of his son's ressurection was missed by not just me but by all in attendance. With that said, the only thing left to ponder is "was I the only one in that Church that had simular thoughts?" I am afraid that what is happening to our Houses of worship are the same things that are being expirienced in our political processes. People have become apathetic or simply afraid to voice a concern due to the potential of being labeled or thought of as politicaly incorrect.
This type of continious behavior is detrimental to all. At times, when enough is enough, each of us has a responsibility to each other to stand up and confront the situation as oppossed to looking the other way, finding another Church or going along with our elected officials who don't serve our wishes.
Del said exactly what I was thinking. "Political Correctness" has become the overall theme in all aspects of our lives. It's time to start speaking the truth even if it means maybe hurting someone's feelings or offending others.
Excellent post.
No more people pleasing please! Only please the One Who deserves all the FULL CREDIT!!! What do I think about your post? "Amen!" That's been a struggle for me, too…Why do Christians go back to legalism when they already found the freedom from Christ? Our old nature MUST GO! We are new creations in Christ.
Jill with Forever N Ever N Always left this comment on my facebook and I thought I'd share with my blogger friends:
"We talk about this quite often in our home. My husband is now a pastor of our small church plant. There is no show – only the WORD of God…used to teach, encourage and lift us all closer to Him. God doesn't need props to be amazing or draw people to a trusting, faith walking relationship. All He needs is vessels willing to be used to speak His truth in love and He will provide the greatest ride and journey anyone has dared to go on. I think this can of worms needs to be addressed and talked about more often. I think we need to focus on discipleship – NOT entertainment! Fancy church buildings and almost TV like performances distract from the reason we are all at church – it is for the saving grace of our LORD and Savior – HE ALONE IS WORTHY of all of our hearts, minds and praise. AMEN!
It is no wonder the body of Christ is one to two generations of falling apart and being a serious minority in the world. Without the WORD being the focus the sheep are loosing interest in hearing from God and are quickly falling asleep – not to mention becoming lovers of the world. And we know that NO ONE can serve TWO Masters. And we know that anyone who loves the world – does NOT have the love of the Father in him.
Thanks for sharing your heart and His truths!
Love and blessings,
Jill"
I totally agree Beth, we must hear the truth from Gods Word in order for our lives to be changed. These type of churches are described in the first three chapters of Revelation and we are told exactly how God deals with them. It is so sad to see this happen, but it surely does. I am so thankful for a church that uses that "sin" word and tells us if a person does not give their heart to God, they will not go to heaven but will spend eternity in hell. Great post, we need to get on our soap boxes every once in awhile and tell things as they really are. blessings to you sister and friend.
I visited a friend's church with her once, and the main "worship" song they sang that day was the Beetles (?) song "All you need is love". I wanted to gag.
Gag, and stand up and holler "AND SALVATION!" 😉
I guess that's a pretty good indicator of how I feel about the idea of a "seeker friendly" message. If a person is a seeker, wouldn't it be prudent and wise and *loving* to help them find what they seek? Like maybe the Truth?
I'm not saying to beat them with a screaming message of hell and damnation and sin…I'm talking the basic Gospel message. Every single Sunday. In a loving way: "We are all sinners, Jesus is God in the flesh, He suffered and died for our sins, He rose from the dead. He loves you more than you can possibly imagine. If you believe and accept what He did for you, you become His child and will be with Him in Heaven some day. Turn your life over to Him, trust Him, let Him lead you."
And then… study the Bible together. Help people know how it applies to their lives.
Our pastor literally goes to the desert or the mountains (depending on the weather LOL!) to seek the Lord and to learn what He wants said at church that week. He fasts and prays. Now THAT'S a pastor I can trust! (But still, I listen critically each week…he's a man after al).
I guess that's my loooong way of saying that yes, we need to be sensitive and loving to the seeker. For sure. We're called to share the gospel with all. But being sensitive and loving to the seeker means speaking God's Truth in love, not avoiding the word "sin" or watering down the Gospel until it's acceptable to humanity.
(the Gospel will never be acceptable to the World – Jesus came to divide, not to bring peace)
PS. Sorry…I'll try to comment BEFORE coffee next time 😉
31 "You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:31-35
44 "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
All that beauty…gold, bronze, the strong iron..and along comes a Rock! That Rock became a huge Mountain, and destroys all the rest! Praise God!
I believe it's happening already. God is making His people more aware of what's going on in His church, and we are standing up to His Word only. The rest will blow away like chaff.
Great post Beth.
Saturday was our Easter service and welcoming new members to the Catholic Church. It was 2 and a half hours long! I was sharing with one man how our priest REFUSED to cut any of the readings from the Word of God out. Too important he said. We had 7 readings, 7 Psalms, a reading from the Epistle, than the Gospels before our homily (sermon).I told the man the previous priest cut out half of the readings,,'oh this is too long, we don't need the, etc.'..He stated,,oh you got the microwave version..I thought that was so powerful.
One of members that became Catholic last year stated after the Mass..'I feel like I got short changed'. She was in total awe over the service. Wished she could have been a part of it herself
GREAT post … and love the comments.
We used to attend a church of 2,000. It started out small (a couple hundred) and was very focused and worshipful. By the time we left, 8 years later, it was all about the entertainment value. The pastor was using 2-3 video clips every week to go along with his sermon, to "make a point". Some were totally inappropriate for my young children (the only children in service, because my kids didn't want to go to the children's ministry and "watch movies and play games") I had sung on the worship team for a few years, but a couple of years ago they were going to "replace me" for the Easter Service because they just wanted the BEST. So, my team was "performing", but I wasn't good enough for Easter. Yea … I quit after that.
Anyway … my husband is now pastoring a little church of 50 people, and we LOVE it. We have been meeting in a little country Grange, but moved to the school cafeteria this week because we outgrew the Grange.
A couple of weeks ago, only 1 member of the worship team could be there. He is usually our drummer, but since he was going to be leading worship by himself … this 65 year old "country boy" brought his Ukelele to lead worship. It was WONDERFUL! Simple, yet worshipful.
No need for entertainment … let's just all get together, worship Jesus, and hear God's Word.
Laurel 🙂
Very intereresting… one of the things I have been thinking about lately is the "numbers" game that churches fall into. All we have to do is follow where He leads us…
Wylie
I found your site through Kelly's link to you. Blessings to you sweet lady
EXCELLENT post! Love it!! I agree wholeheartedly… it's VERY refreshing to see others who are in agreement with me on the POWER of the GOSPEL and that watering down is DANGEROUS!!!!!!