In the last 50 years the “seeker-sensitive” church model has taken the country by storm. A seeker-sensitive church follows a model where the gospel is regularly introduced clearly and invitingly in a way that the hearer can respond to. The point of a church that follows this model is to convert people to Christianity. It can be a very effective model, and it works…for awhile. Willow Creek is a classic model of a seeker-sensitive church. They presented the gospel week after week in a way that people could respond to. The church started in 1975 and met in a small, rent-out theater in Palatine, Illinois. The church exploded, and they currently have 23,000 members that regularly attend the weekend gatherings. Recently Willow Creek realized that something was not quite right, and they began to re-examine their way of doing church.
The downside of a seeker-sensitive model that the leadership at Willow Creek began to realized is that there is no “next step” for the new converts. The point is to make Christians, not to train Christians. Because of this mind-set there are no ministries for the more “spiritually-mature” Christians who might poke their head in the door. This is not always the leadership’s fault, per se, because seeker-sensitive models tend to grow so fast with such large numbers that the resources to effectively disciple each and every new convert just are not there.
Imagine a husband and wife who keep getting pregnant and having children. They are consistently pumping out child after child after child. It seems great, because the family is growing larger and there are more children to love. They have enough money to take care of them all, so they keep having more. Ok, now imagine that these parents have no intention of raising their children. They love and take care of the first and second babies, but then when the third and fourth come around they ignore the first and second. Then when the fifth and sixth come along the third and fourth get neglected, so on and so on. This cycle keeps happening until almost all of the children are being neglected except for the newborn babies. If you saw this happening, wouldn’t you think that this couple was being irresponsible?
Born again Christians are new born Christians. They require the same amount of attention and care as a new born (well, almost….). Yet there are churches all over that are pumping out newborn-again Christians without the intention of fostering their development. This is not only irresponsible, it is dangerous. Newly born-again Christians need to be lead along the path of discipleship in a fashion that teaches them how to eventually walk it on their own. Without this proper guidance a new Christian will easily get lost in the world.
We need churches to train disciples. Pastors and church leaders should be educating their congregants how to practice proper discipline. We cannot be disciples without having discipline. A discipline of prayer, a discipline of meditation, a discipline of silence, a discipline of sacrifice, a discipline of communion, a discipline of…well, you get the picture. This cannot be done in a once a week 1-hour meeting. So what are some ways that this type of training can happen?
This morning I was reading through this article by Dan Kimball in the Next-Wave: Church and Culture web magazine. In it Dan talks about the obligation of pastors and church leaders to train their congregation in how to effectively read the Bible. He points out that too many Christians rely on Sunday mornings, and on their pastors interpretations and teachings for their Biblical “feeding”. What Mr. Dan Kimball is proposing is a teaching model or a teaching mind-set where the congregants become “self-feeders”. By providing study guides and Biblical commentaries, the congregation can not only enrich their spiritual lives but also learn some solid exegetical techniques. I love this idea. It is a vital first step, and grounding point, on the path of discipleship.
What do you think are some other ways that the church could effectively train Christian disciples?
What do you think of handing out commentaries to your congregation? Do you think that could foster a reliance on Biblical commentaries when it comes to reading Scripture?
What do you think of the seeker-sensitive church model? Do you feel it is on the decline, or do you feel that it is here to stay?
2 comments:
What do you think are some other ways that the church could effectively train Christian tdisciples?
1) I think that the church should first get smaller. a community should be one that can support one another. there are those that argue that the seeker sensitive church isn't too big and that small "churches" form within them that support the people in those smaller units. but...you can still slip through the cracks. the problem is is that someone has to be already intentional about getting plugged in at a large church. so that is my advice. get smaller. branch out. and start learning all the people's names that go to your church.
2) I don't really think commentaries are the way to go. maybe Christian spirituality reading, but even then that should come as a secondary to what it is being shown to people through relational discipleship. ergo, I would be one to argue that a church should never be bigger than 200 to 300 people, just because it is impossible to have a relational discipleship model that I think is the only way to invite and walk with others in the kingdom of God. Now this is coming from someone who did not read the article you told us to read. and to that I have to say big whoop. but I do know this: I did not become interested in "Christian Spirituality" reading UNTIL it was first shown to me how these are actually lived out. I still do not know if I can really live what these writers are preaching such as nouwen and foster and others, but the fact that I see other people living it shows me that it is not just some fantasy, but that we can actually live as Jesus wants us to and empowers us to. so I would say that first it must be shown to them through the church and it's leadership and its parishoners.
3) seeker sensitive churches are here to stay simply because there are those in the church now that just wish to be entertained. and they are the churches that feed off of entertainment. the megachurch (and I realize that megachurch doesn't equal seekersensitive church) is one that is not going away simply because of technology infatuation, shorter attention spans, and a love of consumerism that I think will only get worse.
What if, Jimmy, the way that we look at people hitting the "born again" moment has already messed up our thinking in this area? What if we looked at people as on a journey with Jesus rather than a one-stop to get out of hell kind of thing? If we restructured our way of thinking about how these people are coming to know Jesus, then wouldn't we be more naturally inclined to "disciple" them in a more intentional manner? To put it slightly differently, if we were on a journey and we invited someone else on that journey with us, then naturally we would want to guide them as they came along.
As far as commentaries go, I'm sure they might be helpful if one were to acknowledge their place as another guide, but, like Marc said, I think the true guide would be the person and the relationship through which one would learn about Jesus.
Seeker-sensitive churches are here to stay, in the same way that they existed before their current incarnation (I'm thinking the revival meetings, etc.) and will exist in another incarnation as the years go on, unless for some reason the surrounding theology of everyone in Christendom changes overnight.
Also, if you're really interested in the discipleship thing, then you should read "Choose the Life" by Bill Hull.
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