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 →