Seeker-Friendly Christianity

[Tibby]

What are everyone’s thoughts on the “Seeker-Friendly Christianity” that has become so popular in the Church today?  

[Layman Bairn]

Tibby,

Outstanding question.

 I have long been a fan of some of the Christian writers of a few generations back. In the past four months I have read more than a few of them, especially Andrew Murray. For me, these books are like cool streams in the desert….No “12 steps to a happy marriage”, no “How to Overcome Depression in a Depressed Economy” or Jesus and You..a Winning Team” etc. etc.

So many of these writers from our past, both men and women, are simply all about Christ, abiding in Christ, holiness, dying to self (there’s a popular topic), God’s covenants and so on. The Bible’s thrust and themes are forefront with people like Spurgeon, Whitefield, Tozer and so many others.

The marketing mentality of too many “churches” today is repulsive to me. The quick easy salvation offered is like joining a “really cool” club where you come a couple times a week, hear some great music, some well polished motivational speaking, complete with stand up comedy and drama and enjoy tons of scheduled, entertaining activities.

The message is too often along the lines of: “everything the world is after, self confidence, healthy relationships, prosperity, the sense of belonging and being somebody are available right here and the God of the universe will help you get it if you just “believe”.

You get my drift, I’m sure. I could go on for a few pages. Here is just a couple of scriptures that you won’t hear in the kind of groups you are referring to.



Acts 14:21-22
21. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
22. Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
(KJV)


1 Pet 4:1-2
1. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
(KJV)

 As recently as the 1950’s, A.W. Tozer wrote: “Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity, which is in Christ, is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities, which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and the servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.”

My short answer:  “Seeker friendly churches”….aren’t

Agape

Bairn

[nChrist]

What are everyone’s thoughts on the “Seeker-Friendly Christianity” that has become so popular in the Church today?  

Brother Chris,

I think that most would need a little bit more definition of what you call "Seeker-Friendly Christianity". I would take that to mean world pleasing, popularity at any cost to fill the pews, and God's Word watered down so as not to offend anyone and be politically correct.

If this is close to what you mean, I wouldn't appreciate a church like that. If this isn't close, it would be an example of confusion caused by man's labels and tags.  

I love the full power of God's Word, and I don't think anything else will ever come close to being as effective in pointing the lost to Christ. The Word of God is a sharp SWORD that cuts all of us, even the born-again believers. However, the WORD's wounding of the lost leads to JESUS, the CROSS, and Salvation. The WORD's wounding of the saved results in greater strength in JESUS and a foundation for the building up of the Saints.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Psalms 127:1  Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

[M]

If you could give a definition of "seeker-friendly Christianity" that might help.  

Some churches are using marketing strategies to promote their church ministries.  Often they are using the same strategies that are used in advertising for selling products or political ideas.  Using tools like marketing or technology to aid in spreading the Gospel shouldn't be a bad thing.


However, it is interesting to note that most marketing theory is based on
Maslow's Hierachy of Needs

http://web.utk.edu/~gwynne/maslow.HTM

There are five levels of needs according to Maslow.  The lowest level is satisfying physical needs (food, shelter).  One must move up through the levels to finally get to the top one (self-actualization).  

So according to Maslow's theory, soup kitchens who preach the Gospel are just wasting their time.  

It makes me wonder about churches that run several different types of programs but don't have basic Bible study classes for adults.  Some churches feel they must offer programs to lure people into the church and then they will offer the Gospel as a side dish.  It is great if Christian teaching can be the focus of every church ministry.  

Some churches do statistical studies to find who is going to their church (ages, families/singles, male/female ratio) and whether people from the neighbourhood are attending the church services.  Then they can find out how to better serve people with programs/ministries.  

[Bronzesnake]

 I think it's ok for churches to offer different programs in order to "lure" in “leery” seekers, as long as the programs are in accordance with God's Word. For example: I don't think starting "Thursday night gambling! " would fly, but an adult basketball night (I doubt God likes Basketball - He's a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey fan!! ) might be good to get people closer to Christians, in the hopes that relationships will form.

 You can't really apply Maslow's Hierachy of Needs to the Will and Power of God to reach souls. There is no marketing strategy that can compare to God's plan of salvation, even if you relate it to methods used by churches to get business. The gulf between the self-serving aspirations of a commercial business, and the selfless aspirations of a Christian, Bible believing Church is incompatible, and insurmountable.


   

[Tibby]

M and Bairn got it, a marketing church. They even have companies that you can hire to come to your church and tell you have you ned to fill the pews. Kind of like a Systems Anaylist for the Churches. It is sickening!

[Bronzesnake]

M and Bairn got it, a marketing church. They even have companies that you can hire to come to your church and tell you have you ned to fill the pews. Kind of like a Systems Anaylist for the Churches. It is sickening!

 It depends on the intent doesn't it. If it's being done to fill pews, so the Church can net more cash, then that Church was in major trouble before any marketing ever took place.

 If it's being done to fill pews in order to draw more lost souls to Jesus then I have no problem with it.

 Jesus was condemned for having dinner with "sinners" and He even went to the "sinner's" homes! sickening isn't it?    

[Shammu]

M and Bairn got it, a marketing church. They even have companies that you can hire to come to your church and tell you have you ned to fill the pews. Kind of like a Systems Anaylist for the Churches. It is sickening!

If it's being done to fill pews in order to draw more lost souls to Jesus then I have no problem with it.

 Jesus was condemned for having dinner with "sinners" and He even went to the "sinner's" homes! sickening isn't it?    

Praise God, Jesus lead the way. Without Jesus, we would all be lost.

Matthew 9:10-13 The Pharisees complained that Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor it is the sick. But go and learn what this means: ' I desire mercy and not sacrifice'." This was an encounter with legalism: the Pharisees tried to obligate Jesus to separate himself from the sinners and tax collectors. They tried to enforce their unjustified tradition. By breaking this tradition Jesus was actually doing God's will, but obeying it would have meant neglecting God's will.

Matthew 12:9-14 When the Pharisees asked if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath, Jesus said to them "if any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

After saying this, Jesus healed a man with a shriveled hand. In this case, the Pharisees (To me, the fat cats.) held that the healing wasn't lawful; they were trying to press the letter of the law to a point that missed the spirit of the law. It is God's will that we would keep the Sabbath, and it is God's will that we would do good to everyone we can. In a case like this you have to decide which is the priority.

Matthew 15:1-9 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat! Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said 'honor your mother and father' and 'Anyone who curses his mother or father must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother 'whatever help you might have received from me is a gift devoted to God', he is not to honor his father with it. Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."

Jesus’ relationship to sin and sinners. The paralytic was healed, after all, "that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," and the point of the second story is that "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

The most significant thing about the paralytic is not his paralysis, but his "sins," so this is what Jesus addresses first. Indeed, even when He heals the paralysis, Jesus does so in order to demonstrate His authority over the man’s sins. In what He does in this scene, then, Jesus inserts Himself between God and the man, speaking to the man with God’s authority. It is not without significance that all three versions of the story also include the detail that Jesus could, like God, read His accusers’ inner thoughts.

I guess I have gone on long enough.
Bob

Luke 5:17 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.

[Bronzesnake]

Nice work Bob!!

[nChrist]

Dreamweaver,

Brother Bob, let me add a SECOND AMEN! You hit the keys:

When should do all

In Love for JESUS

and for

GOD'S GLORY, HONOR, AND PRAISE!

If we do, God will use us and His Will be done.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 30:21  And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

[M]

I have heard of churches doing surveys of their own congregations and local neighbourhoods.   Over time neighbourhoods change.  Maybe some 50-60 yrs ago, people would attend their local neighbourhood church.  Most likely, the neighbourhood did build the church.  If a congregation's survey shows that most of the people attending have moved out of the neighbourhood, that church is doing a good job retaining members but they should also check attendance records as well.  If there are no new people coming in from the neighbourhood that don't have a family history with the church, the church might want to look at a local survey.

One church doing a local survey found different answers to why local folks were not attending.  They were not Christians - there is an opportunity to evagelize.  There were a variety of answers from people who were Christians but didn't attend that church:  they went to another church/denominations, they didn't know the church was there/open/welcome to them, they just moved there and didn't know where any churches were, no one had invited them,  there was no sign outside to say when the services were, would like an earlier, later service,   etc.   Some churches just might relocate into another neighbourhood.

If the people had attended the church once and were turned off, the church might like to know for what reasons.  

There were physical limitations: there were no parking spaces, no disabled parking/access, couldn't find the worship sanctuary/door, couldn't find church from main road, no/inadequate washrooms at church.  

There were people limitations:  ushers weren't friendly/no ushers,  were embarrassed to put sitted at the front when arriving later (no free space in the back),  people won't move over in pews or told them "that was their family pew", no nursery/inadequate child supervision/pressure to separate children from parents when it isn't comfortable, being told "your type of people worship at the 'other' church" (subtle or obvious racial discriminiation), strict dress code (either all to dressed up or all too dressed down),  no one invited them to coffee fellowship after service.  

Rarely do seekers mention that they don't like the doctrine.  Sometimes you will see people armed with a paper pad and Bible taking notes during the sermon.  They will check their notes on the sermon against scripture later.  These people will also ask to see the church's creed or statement of faith.  They will ask about church government, a copy of the church budget, etc.  These people most likely are not new believers but they might be looking for a new church.  

Seekers who are nominal Christians or non-believers will be more impressed by the physical and personal presentation of the church.  They will less likely tolerate an indequate sound system, poor choir, disrepair of church facilities.  That may make them seem shallow to strong believers but their faith is shallow.  These seekers will be looking for quality in the presentation of the message rather than the message of the Gospel itself.  This might be something to consider for some churches.  If not, ask yourself if the Lord's House shouldn't be as clean and comfortable as any of our own homes?

How can a church be seeker-friendly?  Be friendly and prepared for people's questions.  Train members in how to give a personal witness of the Gospel to others.  If someone asks them why they like church their answer shouldn't be they go there just because all their friends do.  Have detailed message or someone answering the phone for information.  Put up signs around the church with the church's name, time of services and phone number.  Put up signs from the main roads.  

More about the personal witness to Christ.  If the church is more than a social/family club then people need to hear about it.  People can learn to witness effectively to others about how believing in Jesus and serving Him has affected their lives and the lives of their family members.  Actually requiring church members to do this (going door-to-door, standing on corners) doesn't work unless they want to do it.  Ineffective  and poor witnessing doesn't credit the church or Christ.  Some people do have a gift for it, others can be trained.  They need to be prepared with answers for common questions and be prepared in spirit.  Witnessing is sometimes a difficult job but very neccessary.  

As for church marketing schemes, big bucks spend by churches for marketing and advertising are wasted if the church members are not friendly and don't want to bring the Gospel to others.  Some churches might need to look at their own members and get them active in ministries and trained, and even tithing.  Increasing the numbers sitting in the pews without that will just overburden the pastor.  

[JudgeNot]

Wow M!
What a wonderfully detailed and thoughtout post - are you in Church administration?  If not, you should be!

God bless,
JN