Category Archives: Contemporary Church Culture
Questions About Corporate Worship: “Why Do We Clap Our Hands?”
Kristin, from PrayForMeOnline posed a great question in response to one of our recent articles Worship Leader Make-Over: Defining the Goal of a Worship Leader. Here it is:
I like the question for one simple reason. It made me think about something we do in corporate worship all the time. Why DO we do it? Do we do it just because that’s what we do? There was a time not too long ago, when you would be challenged with a powerful phrase if you advocated something others were not sure about. Some of you remember that phrase because you’ve been following Christ 20 plus years. The phrase? “Chapter and Verse!” “Show me where it says that in the Bible, give me the exact address of where it says that in the Bible. Give me the Chapter and Verse.” If it could not be done, discussion over.
Great question Kristin! Here’s my answer, including the Chapter and Verse! Read the rest of this entry
Would the Apostle Paul Plant a Seeker-Sensitive Church?
The most effective means of bringing people to Christ is planting new churches. At least that is what the experts tell us. There was a time when I believed this with all my heart, but I am not so convinced anymore. Many of todays “modern” church plants are extremely ineffective.
This week alone, approximately 100 new church plants will begin holding public services in America. Most of these new church starts are based upon a seeker-friendly or purpose driven style of ministry. In simple terms, the seeker-sensisitve church model is based on designing a service for the non-christian. It has to be attractive, appealing and most of all “relevant” to the unchurched. The unchurched decides what is relevant for them, and they have decided that a message about a cross, their sin, a God that holds them accountable for their lives, hell or how to make peace with God is not relevant. They want nothing to do with that type of message. They want to know how to raise their kids, how to have a better marriage, how to be succesful. Essentially, they are interested in anything that will make their life better now. Today’s modern church plant is striving to give them what they want, at the expense of what they truly need.
This model can attract large crowds, but it is not effective in leading large numbers of people to true faith in our crucified and risen Savior. Still, it is the most popular model among today’s church planters. Which begs the question: Is it a correct model? Is it a biblical model? Should we be using it? The Apostle Paul was a prolific church planter. If he were planting churches today, would he be using this seeker-sensitive model? If you read his works, and study what he did, you would walk away with one clear conclusion: Read the rest of this entry
D.A. Carson: Is The Seeker-Sensitive Church Model Hurting The Church?
Is the Seeker-sensitive church model hurting the church? If your one of the millions* of people who read this blog on a regular basis, you know where we stand on this question. Today, I thought it would be helpful to let a man I have the utmost respect for weigh in on the subject. To be fair, D.A. Carson does not specifically call out the Seeker-Sensitive church model by name. However, it is clearly in view. Read his thoughts and let the rest of us know what you think. We would love to hear your comments on this post, especially if you are or were part of this style of ministry. What made you leave? What have you found that is better? Why did you stay? Or What have you learned?
In his book, The Cross and Christian Ministry, D.A. Carson writes:… Read the rest of this entry
George Barna: The Seeker-Sensitive Church Model: Dumbing Down Disciples
The Barna Group just came out with a new research report. In it, they describe six mega-themes relating to the state of the church in America. I want to discuss two of those themes here. I believe they have a cause and effect relationship. I also believe that the Seeker-Sensitive church model is directly responsible for the findings detailed in the Barna Report.
Barna says: “Change usually happens slowly in the Church. But a review of the past year’s research… provides a time-lapse portrayal of how the religious environment in the U.S. is morphing into something new.” Stop for a moment and think about what you just read: Christianity in America is morphing into something new.”
Is the American church morphing into something better and more God honoring? The findings in the Barna Report would argue in the negative. Here’s two of them: Read the rest of this entry
Cross-Centered Worship “All I Have Is Christ”
We have noticed a disturbing trend in the corporate worship songs of the church. Perhaps you have too? It seems that we sing very little about the main point of Christianity. This is due, in large part, to church leaderships desire to be more “sensitive” to those who attend the service but are not Christians.
The research tells us (we are told), that non-Christians don’t really want to hear about sin and guilt and being accountable to a holy God. Hearing about a Savior dying on a bloody cross for their sins is not high on their priority list. To reach them, we must eliminate these topics from our sermons and our songs. Sadly, much of the Evangelical church has mistakenly signed on to this approach. We could not disagree more strongly!
The message of a crucified and risen Savior and the reconciliation that this can bring is the only message the church has! It is the one and only message the church has been entrusted with and that the lost so desperately needs to hear.
As one who has been responsible for leading corporate singing for years,… Read the rest of this entry
The Centrality of The Bible
John Piper says:
Does Your Sunday Morning Service Look Like This?
The Look on Lucy’s face says it all! So take a minute and look at these short videos about worship. They are hilarious! I sure hope your Sunday doesn’t look like this. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Follow these links to view the videos:
“Consumer Worship” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8KnhchT_58
“Its All About Me” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XHkMPA1334
We are taking a Poll of how Christians view worship and the church. Please take the poll. We will post the results soon. Click here to TAKE THE POLL
Back to the Future: Sunday Morning Church Service circa 150 AD
In the movie “Back To The Future”, 17 year old, Marty Mcfly, lives a lousy life. His dad, George, a nerdy scaredy cat, and his mom, Larraine, is an alcoholic, who met George through pity, when her dad hit George with a car. All he has ever known is this reality. The only thing that he can do for fun, is hang out with the local scientist, Dr. Emmit Brown (Doc) who has created a time machine. You know the story. Marty goes back in time and changes how his parents meet. In the process everything that was wrong with his life and family is dramatically changed for the good.
When I contemplate the current state of the American Evangelical church, I wish we could get into that DeLorean and head back in time. If we could, perhaps we would be able to intervene at just the right moment so that today’s church reflected God’s design rather than our own. We can not time travel back to the first century, but we can read their documents to see how they understood “Church.” It is good to look at history to observe how things “were”. We often look at how things “are” and assume that’s this is the way things are supposed to “be”… Read the rest of this entry
Seeker-Sensitive Absurdities: “Come to our Church, We’ll Help Improve Your Sex Life!”
A local church in my city recently ran this “Pure Sex” advertising campaign to attract the non-churched to come to their services. They drove around the city with this banner on a trailer. First, I thought it was an advertisement for a porn shop. I was stopped dead in my tracks when I realized it was an advertisement to come to a church.
Does the seeker-sensitive model have no limits? Now our message to the lost is “Come here and we’ll teach you how to have a better sex life?” Is that the message God has entrusted us with? Read the rest of this entry
Top Posts For November
Below you will find links to our top 5 posts in November. Have a quick read and join the discussion!
1. Does God Care How We Worship?
2. When Did “Worship” Become the Singing of a Song?
3. Jeremiah’s Message to Today’s Church Leadership
4. Poll: What is the Most Important Element of Corporate Worship for you Personally?
Does God Care How We Worship?
The past twenty-five years has seen the corporate worship of the evangelical church radically transformed. Throughout the years, the liturgy of the early church and the liturgy of the modern church had been very similar. But that all changed with the arrival of the seeker-sensitive movement that the church has largely embraced. The modern seeker-sensitive church meeting bares very little resemblance to the historical church… Read the rest of this entry
When Did “Worship” Become the Singing of a Song?
The memory is forever etched in my mind. It was a typical Sunday, the service was over. There was a line of people who wanted to talk to me. One of them was our sound guy, who said “Worship was great today pastor! Your guitar solo was AWESOME!” I remember this comment for two reasons. It was the first time in my ministry where I realized that people were equating songs with worship. What he meant was that he liked the songs we played. Even then, I knew that worship was much more than singing or listening to a song. The other troubling part for me was that I did not have any guitar solos, and the guy who thought I did was the soundman! (He had taken too many drugs as a young man, and apparently heard things that were not there. Not good if you are a sound guy. I guess I should be happy he did not imagine a really bad solo, but I digress.) Read the rest of this entry
Cross-Centered Worship: “The Gospel Song”
We have noticed a disturbing trend in the corporate worship songs of the church. Perhaps you have too? It seems that we sing very little about the main point of Christianity. This is largely because the church wants to be more “sensitive” to those who are not Christians. With the best research in hand, we are told that non-Christians don’t really want to hear about sin and guilt and being accountable to a holy God. They also don’t want to hear about a Savior dying on a bloody cross for their sins. To reach them, we are confidently told, we must eliminate these topics from our sermons and our songs. Sadly, much of the Evangelical church has mistakenly signed on to this approach. Read the rest of this entry
Not For Itching Ears!
Not For Itching Ears is a blog dedicated to discussing the serious issues that exist within the American Evangelical church. It is a place for like minded people to share their thoughts on a host of issues relating to this subject. Our opinion is that the church in America is in serious trouble and has lost its way. If you believe that, then this will be an excellent forum for you. Our goal is not to bash the church. Rather, the goal is to bring people together to encourage one another and talk about solutions… Read the rest of this entry
Jeremiah’s Message to Today’s Church Leadership
“If it feels good, do it!”
This has been one of the mottos of our culture since the 1960’s. Now it seems that the American church has adopted a similar pragmatic motto: “If it makes people feel good, we should use it.” Today we see church leaders of every persuasion trying all kinds of new things. If it works in drawing more people into services then it “works” and it must be good, right, and stamped with the very approval of God Himself. But is it?
One of the things we should remind ourselves… Read the rest of this entry
Whatever Happened to the Message of The Cross?
The sign said, “Now serving Starbucks coffee!” It was the late 90’s and the premium coffee craze was taking the country by storm. Everyone who liked coffee LOVED Starbucks or soon would. So it wasn’t surprising that some business would be utilizing the brand name to promote what they were doing. It made pretty good sense. It wouldn’t have fazed me at all if any other company was doing it. But this massive sign was hung in front of a local evangelical Christian church. The message was crystal clear: “Come to our service on Sunday, we have free Starbucks coffee!”
Not For Itching Ears 