The big problem
with the “seeker sensitive” church is that it fails to adhere to the scriptural
definition of “church” – the believers.
(Disclaimer: my beloved brother in Christ and pastor in my church draws
a line, calling this error “seeker driven”.
A more proper term, but not in wide use. I shall use this term to draw the distinction between that church
which rightly welcomes lost folks in for the opportunity to hear the gospel and
those who seek to make lost folk feel right at home in the church. This same pastor also points out that the
church is not to be “believer driven”, but led by the Spirit.) Lost folks “seeking” something are not part
of the church and the gathering of saints is nowhere in scripture described as
conforming to the desires of those “seekers”.
Sunday worship is consistently described in scripture as the gathering
of the saints, for the edification of the saints, who worship their savior in
unity. It matters not what size
building we have or they had. Houses
seating a dozen or sanctuaries seating thousands – the definition of God’s church
and her function are the same. Pagans
are not to be excluded, but the purpose of the gathering is for the glory of
God – by His children.
One defender of
“seeker sensitive” and “emerging” style church services, Sally Morgenthaler,
shows a common confusion on a short passage in 1 Corinthians (chapter 14:24 –
25) – ”Not only did
Paul assume that unbelievers would be present in the Corinthian's
gatherings. He expected that they would
be convicted and drawn to God through the act of worship itself.” http://www.emergingchurch.info/stories/sallymorgenthaler
(if this site is “deactivated” – click here for a cached
version: http://tinyurl.com/7u6gd)
That passage
deals with Paul’s instructions on teaching within the church and in these two
verses we see that the act of worship is the result of a heathen being brought to faith by the proper, clear
communication of the Truth – worship is not the agent used by God to draw the
unbeliever. I start with verse 21 for
clarity:
“In the law it is written, With men
of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all
that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.
Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them
that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but
for them which believe. If therefore
the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues,
and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say
that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that
believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of
all: And thus are the secrets of his
heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and
report that God is in you of a truth.”
Paul rebukes
believers for being overly desirous of speaking in tongues, pointing out that
among believers, a few clear words of Truth are far better than a thousand
words in tongues and that lost folk or baby Christians who heard it would think
them mad. He then tells them – and us –
that prophesy, the Truthful and understandable proclamation of God’s Word, will
expose the pagan’s sinful heart to himself and he will then worship God. This worship can only come after conviction
and salvation – for lost people know not God, how can they worship Him?
A secondary
problem with the seeker driven church is that it tries to compete with the
culture on the culture’s terms and values, neglecting the Biblical mandate that
the church be “salt & light” – different from the sin saturated
culture. Competing with MTV and other
cultural icons will leave the church feeling defeated – and well deserved that
feeling will be.
We cannot
out-perform the lost world in cultural entertainment methods or styles. No one was ever entertained into the Kingdom
of God. And
we will not win souls for Christ nor make disciples of those who have been
called by Him if we look to the culture rather than the Bible for success and
the pathway to it. The church is made
up of believers for the spiritual growth of the believers and the praise and
worship of our Lord who saved us from our sins. Lost folk who like our music are not worshipping God. The Bible says lost folk are enemies of God
with hearts turned against Him (Romans 1:21, 5:10 & Ephesians 4:18). The Word of God, presented in a clear,
understandable language, brings lost folk to repentance and salvation.
Though the Bible
commends believers to fear God in many passages, in many ways, for many reasons
– this teaching is mostly missing from seeker sensitive churches. The tendency is to portray the “seeker” as
loved by God (which is true) without the attendant teaching of sin, repentance,
and call of God to salvation in Christ alone.
As Christ taught in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, many will
appear to accept the Word and believe – but do not, in fact, have the saving
belief that sets apart saints from demons.
Nobody ever was
saved by “spiritual entertainment” or funny or gripping stories from the
pulpit, or from any music EVER composed.
A service that only provides such – which is what many seeker driven
services do – never has nor ever will bring a sinner to repentance and the
salvation that comes from being truly reborn in and by Christ Jesus. Where in Scripture is worship or music
described as an evangelistic means to bring pagans to saving faith in
Christ? What we call worship, a pagan
can only perceive as entertainment with a spiritual focus. They cannot worship with us – just as they
cannot discern anything spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:14 – 16).
Those who are
saved in what seeker driven types call a “believers’ service” are saved by
God’s Spirit through His Word.
According to Scripture – all church services are to be “believers’ services”. The only true seekers on Earth are the
saints of God who go out and seek to proclaim God’s Truth to lost folk. Pagans aren’t “seekers” – they’re dead in
their sins and must be drawn to God by God.
1 Corinthians
9:19 – 23 is often used to justify making the church “world friendly” or
“seeker driven” – but I cannot see how this is what Paul meant. First, Paul documents that he surrendered
his rights so as not to be an offense to lost men. Secondly, this is an example of personal evangelism – not corporate
worship. In Acts and each epistle that
I read about the early church – I find many instructions to preach to the
church the Word without compromise or fear of man and no permission or example
of accommodating the values and tastes of the pagan culture. He is most clear in his letter to the
Galatian church – “Am
I now seeking human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people?
If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
In a well-known
verse (Romans 12:2), Christians are strongly exhorted to “be not conformed to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” Does this instruction not also apply to the
church? We are to conform the world to
the image of Christ, not conform the church to the image of the world. To use phrases I have heard recently, the
Bible clearly shows the process of joining the church as “believe and belong”,
contrary to the “new way” of “belong then believe”.
Personal
evangelism is not the same as corporate worship and instruction. The church is to equip saints, built up in
the love and knowledge of Jesus and the Word of God, and send them into the
dark world to proclaim the Gospel of Christ crucified and raised from the
dead. Seeker driven puts this on its
head and leaves the “church” without a Biblical mission. “…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with
God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” My prayer is that the saints of God return
the corporate gatherings we call church to His model and get serious about
making disciples who will affect the world for Gd’s glory.