Category Archives: The Seeker-Sensitive Church Model
Our Top 5 Most Read, Most Interesting and Most Debated Posts of the Year
It is hard to believe that August is fast approaching, and that 2011 is more than half in the tank already. We have had some very interesting debates and discussions here at Not For Itching Ears. In case you missed them (how is that even possible) I have posted their links here.
Our Top 5 Most Read, Most Interesting and Most Debated Posts of the Year…. Read the rest of this entry
Saturday Morning Funnies: Where Did All The Pastors Go?
The old school pastor seems to be a dying breed, as this comic strip suggests.
You Can Reach More People In Your City if You Will Only Do What They are Doing
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 Read the rest of this entry
Saturday Morning Funnies: The New Pastoral Job Description
One of the casualties of the seeker-sensitive church movement has been a re-defining of what it means to be a pastor. Here’s the new job description:
Does God Give Us Freedom To Worship Him Anyway WE Want to?
“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. Even in corporate worship. If it works in drawing more people into services then it “works” and must be stamped with the very approval of God Himself. It appears that many church leaders are acting under the premise that we can worship God anyway we want to, as long as it is in spirit and truth. This is often just a code word for “Our way of worshipping God is acceptable to Him. It must be, we love it and so do all the unbelievers who come and enjoy it.” But are they right? Can we worship God anyway that WE want to? Is there any possibility, at all, that the way we worship Him could be unacceptable to HIM?
One of the things we should remind ourselves… Read the rest of this entry
Whatever Happened to the Message of Christianity?
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 would not have fazed me a single bit if any other company was doing it. However, 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!”
With the arrival of the church growth movement and the seeker-sensitive ministry focus it birthed.. Read the rest of this entry
The Seeker-Sensitive Model: Has the Quest for “Relevance”, Made the Church Irrelevant?
In its quest to be “relevant”, has the seeker-sensitive church model become irrelevant? Has the desire to seem “seeker-friendly” actually made the church less friendly? Does the Seeker-Sensitive church model eternally benefit those whom it targets? My conclusion: The Seeker-Sensitive church Isn’t. It isn’t “friendly” and it isn’t relevant. Strong charges, I know. Bear with me a moment and walk through my argument.
The seeker-sensitive church model is good at doing what it does. It is good at creating a crowd, Read the rest of this entry
Charles Spurgeon: Jesus Christ Doesn’t Need a Worship Band to lead People to Himself
These days, it seems that music is the most important element at the typical Sunday morning church gathering. Don’t believe me? Try this: take your watch and time each element of the service: announcements, singing, the message, prayer, etc. The time alloted for singing at many churches is often the winner. Usually, we give the most time to that which we consider the most important thing.
If we ask why music takes such a prominent role in our gatherings, one of the answers we are given is that non-christians like good music and it draws them to church. If we want to reach them with the gospel (who doesn’t want to do this?) then we have to have a great band! I disagree with this. Non-christians do not come to our services because we have a great band. They really don’t. As a full-time musician, I can honestly say that the music in our church services is largely VERY unimpressive to the christian let alone the non-Christian. Plus we don’t serve alcohol!
The great Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon himself, declared that Jesus Christ does not need a great worship band to reach the lost. Well, he didn’t use those exact words. But that is what he would say today. Consider his argument: 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
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
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
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
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 