Sunday, January 08, 2006
True Sensitivity To Seekers
Out Of Ur had a wonderful post on why we should abandon the "seeker-sensitive" model of doing church.
These principles of Christian hospitality have been practiced since the time of Abraham, but in the modern age the church abandoned the traditional language of loving strangers in favor of a new dialect. We called it ?seeker sensitivity.? The seeker church movement has taken the Bedouin and monastic idea of hospitality (host first, ask questions later) and reversed it. Now, thanks to the influence of business practices and marketing, the church tries to discover everything possible about its target guests, and then hosts according to their predetermined expectations. The result has been a radical shift in the way Christians worship and express their devotion to Christ, and a dehumanizing of Christian hospitality.Seeker-sensitivity as it has been practiced these recent years is incidious in its lack of a call to maturity. Several things happen as a result
Where market research replaces the simple call to love strangers, the responsibility to be hospitable is no longer felt by individual members of the church?the music, sermon, and worship service have all been test-engineered to do the job instead. Market analysis has also shown that many people prefer to visit a church anonymously, so seeker-driven churches will often avoid identifying newcomers. Jesus may be among us in the form of a stranger, but we would never know it unless he filled out a response card. [emphais added]
- The church comes to rely, almost soley, on professionals - forcing the church to concentrate on income generation to extremely unhealthy levels
- Seekers find a singel gold nugget when there is a mine full of gold ore availabel to them
- The church grows, but the members do not
- We may achieve justification, but sanctification never enters the building (see yesterday's post)
I am reminded that the church is a means to an end, it is not an end unto itself. What do I mean when I say that?
We are not called to build up the church, save by building up those that are in it. The seeker-sensitive/mega-church movement has done, obviously, an excellent job at building the institution, but they have done so in a manner that does not concern itself with the growth of the individuals in the church, that may have been accomplished, but it was a by-product at best.
I am very happy to see something this pointed and good from such a high profile outlet. I think the emphasis it places on hospitality is a good one. This is how I have always thought church should be done.
