In His Name Devotionals
THE SEEKER-SENSITIVE MOVEMENT
In His Name Devotionals
THE SEEKER-SENSITIVE MOVEMENT
What is the seeker-sensitive movement? In a nutshell, it’s the push within religious circles to make worship services more “relevant” and therefore more attractive to the world. It’s the driving force behind the marketing ploys and high- tech entertainment gimmicks which many religious leaders use to promote growth. While it may be hard to believe, still it’s true that even some leaders in the Church of Christ are learning toward parts of this widely popular but threatening and deadly trend. For example, a preacher recently said, “What’s so dangerous about trying to attract unbelievers to church?” It certainly sounds benign. After all, what’s wrong with making “church” a more inviting place for unbelievers to visit and, more important, come back? But is seeker-sensitive worship benign, or spiritual death? Consider:
One of the most common and alarming characteristics of the seeker-sensitive movement is the way it minimizes and downplays God’s Word. In seeker-sensitive churches, where the main goal is to bring people in and keep them, Christ- centered Bible teaching is often cut short or worse, cut out. Why? (1) Because such preachers are consumed with self; and (2) because “church” leaders believe people are too busy or too dense to sit through serious, well thought out and studied expositions of God’s Word, assuming attention spans are too short to stay focused on Christ-centered sermons without becoming bored.
So, the spiritual content of the message is cut short. Visit a seeker-sensitive “church” and see how much you learn about sin, judgment, the holiness of God, the importance of obedience, God the Father or Jesus Christ! More than likely you’ll hear sermons on human relationships, success in the business world, how to make your life in this world more satisfying or the preacher’s personal whims. The reason is not difficult to understand: if the primary focus is to encourage unbelievers to attend, then invariably God’s Truth must be softened to make it more palatable. It will skip the hard teaching of Scripture on matters of repentance and the cost of discipleship, choosing instead to focus on numbers, attendance, money and how easy it is to become a believer.
Another area that suffers when one adopts a seeker-sensitive approach is the tone of the worship service. To appeal to a broader audience, many religious leaders are taking their cues from the world, adopting the same entertainment and marketing devices the world employs. Film clips, skits, comedy, pyrotechnics, light shows, and an over indulgence in music are just some of its trappings. God and Christ are set aside! Replaced with entertainment, “felt needs,” and fleshly desires!
“We’ll never fall into any of that,” one might say. But the effects of seeker-sensitive methodology (even in small portions) are tragic because they undermine the very purpose of God’s church. Doesn’t God’s Word teach us that when His people gather it should be to worship Him, remember His Son Jesus Christ, hear His Word, and encourage one another? Sunday to Sunday, the meeting of His church is the context in which sin is exposed; forgiveness is found; and the Good News—Jesus Christ—is front and center. It’s where Christian men and women form the spiritual relationships necessary to exhort each other toward greater Christ likeness.
Perhaps we need to ask: “Are we in any way sacrificing substance for style?” What about our preacher? Does he soft- pedal the gospel to keep people in the pews? What about his sermons? Do they center on Jesus Christ or on himself? What are the fruits of his life? Selflessness? Self-serving? Answering questions like these will help us determine if, in fact, we are on the road toward spiritual stagnation and eventually death. Our worship should be a place where men and women grow spiritually by coming under the influence of God’s Word, instead of following after the religious world and producing worship assemblies of mere shells filled with shallow, perhaps false converts and malnourished Christians. Once we exchange our God-ordained mission to preach Jesus Christ—Good News, the only source of spiritual life—for a marketing manifesto to fill pews, we have surrendered our claim to divine power as well as our effectiveness in the world.
It doesn’t take a scholar to see how the seeker-sensitive movement has already begun to affect the church. In the religious world, it is rapidly growing, dominating communities around the world. Is the Church of Christ where you attend tinkering with it even today? Do you know someone who attends a seeker-sensitive “church?” Whatever your situation, the seeker-sensitive movement is so pervasive that most of us will probably encounter it sooner or later. Question is what will we do with it?
