Thanks to Pastor - Seeker Sensitive Movement

Subject: The Seeker-Sensitive Movement



The Seeker-Sensitive Movement



by John MacArthur





What exactly is the seeker-sensitive movement? In a nutshell, it's the

push within churches across the country 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

churches use to promote growth.





As you read this, you may be asking, "What's so dangerous about trying

to attract unbelievers to your church?" It certainly sounds benign.

After all, what's wrong with making church a more inviting place for

unbelievers to visit? Where's the danger in spicing up worship services

to keep people interested and, more important, coming back?





But the seeker-sensitive movement is anything but benign. In fact, it

can be deadly for any church that falls under its influence. Let me

share a few reasons.





One of the most common-and most alarming-characteristics of a

seeker-sensitive church is in the way it minimizes and downplays the

teaching of God's Word. In seeker-sensitive churches, where the goal is

to bring people in and keep them there, Bible teaching is cut short or

worse, cut out. Why? Because advocates of the movement believe people

today are too busy to sit through lengthy expositions of God's Word.

Their attention spans are too short to hold them through a long sermon

without becoming bored.





Sadly, the content of the message is cut short as well. Visit a

seeker-sensitive church and you won't hear a lot about sin or judgment.

You won't learn much about the holiness of God or the importance of

obedience, either. You're more likely to hear a sermon on human

relationships, success in the business world, or how to make your life

in this world more satisfying. That's because if a church's primary

focus is to encourage unbelievers to attend, it will invariably soften

the truth to make it more palatable. It will skirt the hard teaching of

Scripture on matters of repentance and the cost of discipleship,

choosing instead to focus on God's grace and how easy it is to become a

believer.





Another area that suffers when a church adopts a seeker-sensitive

approach is the tone of the worship service. To appeal to a broader

audience, many church leaders are taking their cues from the world.

They're 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 the trappings of the

seeker-sensitive church. God is no longer the center of

worship-entertainment, "felt needs," and fleshly desires reign supreme.





The effects of seeker-sensitive methodology on the church are tragic

because they undermine the very purpose the church is supposed to serve

in believers' lives. According to God's Word, when His people gather, it

should be to worship Him, hear His Word, and encourage one another.

Sunday to Sunday, the meeting of the church is the context in which sin

is exposed and forgiveness is found. It's where believers engage in

biblical ministry and exercise their spiritual gifts and where Christian

men and women form the relationships through which they exhort each

other toward greater Christlikeness.





But when churches sacrifice substance for style-when even well meaning

pastors soft-pedal the gospel to keep people in the pews-churches

stagnate and eventually die. Instead of being a place where men and

women grow spiritually by coming under the influence of God's Word,

seeker-sensitive churches become mere shells filled with false converts

and malnourished Christians. Once a church exchanges its God-ordained

mission to preach the Word, which is the only source of spiritual life,

for a marketing manifesto to fill pews, it surrenders its claim to

divine power along with its effectiveness in the world.





I wish I could tell you that the seeker-sensitive movement has affected

only a handful of churches, but the truth is far worse. The movement is

currently sweeping through the evangelical landscape, threatening

churches in communities around the world. Perhaps you find yourself in a

church that's tinkering with it even today. Or maybe you're looking for

a church or you know someone who attends a seeker-sensitive church.

Whatever your situation, the seeker movement is so pervasive that you're

sure to encounter it sooner or later.