HEARTBROKEN OVER THE CHURCH

My friend has been going to seeker-sensitive churches (SSC) for a good 20 years. I therefore listened carefully as he explained what he has observed. In the more biblically-faithful SSCs, Scripture is not distorted or denigrated. However, many doctrines are left out – those which might cause offense – resulting in a distorted and unbalanced Gospel presentation.

Just about all of these churches place a great deal of emphasis on home fellowship groups. The need for community is regularly emphasized, but not doctrine. Consequently, group leaders are not chosen because of their accurate and faithful understanding of Scripture, but as facilitators – those who are able to make the participants feel comfortable and valued. Therefore, all comments are valued and accepted, except those that might disrupt the community spirit.

Consequently, doctrine has little to do with the building of community and the unity in Christ. SSCs ignore the fact that when Christ sent out His Apostles, He instructed them to:

·       “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20; ESV)

Are SSCs faithful to Christ’s commission? Are they faithful to the many teachings of Scripture that measure our love of God according to following His commands?

·       Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24)

Instead, the SSCs seem to ignore many Scriptural teachings, as if they think that they have a better formula. Instead, Paul had taught about what preaching should look like in the last days when people would no longer hear the Gospel (2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:3-4):

·       I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: PREACH THE WORD; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, WITH COMPLETE PATIENCE AND TEACHING. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

SSCs have left out the admonition for “complete…teaching,” lest it might cause offense, without thinking that such omissions might be an offense to God. Paul understood that they these omissions would constitute an offense. Therefore, he stated:

 

·       Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:26-27)

In contrast SSCs shrink back from much. Not only is this an offense to God, but it is also depriving the congregation of spiritual growth:

·       Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)

I could not have survived without the Word. I had suffered from decades of severe depression followed by panic attacks, which left me devastated. I didn’t know if I could endure much longer. I loathed myself, and projected this onto everyone else, thinking that they too loathed me.

However, the Spirit began to apply the Scriptures to my heart and mind. Through them, He taught me that it wasn’t about me but about Him (Galatians 2:20), that God didn’t hate me, as my emotions were informing me. Instead, He loved me with a love that went far beyond anything that I could conceive (Ephesians 2:16-19).

Once the Spirit and convinced me that He loved me, I could begin to accept myself and then to feel accepted by others. Jesus’ teachings became very real to me:

·       So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

As Jesus had indicated, it was a process. However, now I feel freed and empowered. My greatest joy is now serving Him according to His Word.

The SSCs are depriving their sheep of this. Some of these churches even scorn Scripture. I grieve deeply, but this should lead us to prayer.

BETRAYAL OF THE GOSPEL AND THE SEEKER-SENSITIVE CHURCHES

In his famous "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr. lamented the fact that Southern White pastors had failed to join the Civil Rights Movement:

·       “In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have

watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious

irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty

struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard

so many ministers say, ‘Those are social issues with which the gospel has no real concern.’”

Evidently, these Southern White churches were Seeker-Sensitive Churches

(SSC). They refused to preach an unpopular message, one which might turn

away the seeker and even the attender. They had forgotten the first great commandment to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds (Matthew 22:37) by abiding in His Word (John 15:7-14; 14:21-24).

However, these SSCs have now been joined by a wide range of brethren. Their message might be different, but the principle of political correctness remains the same - to not offend the prevailing culture, even if it means ignoring wide swaths of the Gospel.

However, we cannot ignore any of the Gospel, lest we incur the wrath of

God. Paul had been concerned about this very thing. Therefore, he testified

of his faithfulness in this regard:

·       “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of

all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

(Acts 20:26-27)

This is the very error of the SSCs. Please understand. I am not suggesting

that we should be sensitive to seekers. In fact, we must be (1 Cor. 9).

However, we must not be "sensitive" to the extent that we refuse to preach

the doctrines of the faith. The is not sensitivity but deadening silence

about some of the very things that should be screamed out from rooftops.

What doctrines are being left out? Many! Here is a partial list:

·       Creationism: SSCs avoid this subject because they are afraid of seeming

to be science-rejectors.

·       The children of the light vs. the children of darkness (2 Cor. 6:14-16):

In the eyes of many, this distinction seems overly harsh, culturally

insensitive, and divisive. Professional Christians want to be able to

embrace the cultural, and preaching such a radical distinction between

saved and unsaved makes this difficult. It is also potentially embarrassing.

·       The role of women in the church: In SSCs, you will not find any

discussion about women in the pastorate.

·       Sexual sins: As social sexual standards have changed, SSCs have gradually

ceased mentioning any form of sexual sin. This omission tends to

communicate that sexual sins really don't matter.

·       Eternal Punishment, the Depravity of Man, and Salvation through

Jesus alone: These teachings are so integral to the Gospel that they are

only silenced as the SSCs approach an advanced stage of apostasy.

·       The plight of the Christian refugees: The silence of the SSCs in this

area is perhaps the most disturbing silence, especially since the world is

supposed to know us by the love we have for our brethren (John 13:35;

17:20-23; Galatians 6:10). Yet I have experienced hostility from SSCs when

I have pointed out their dereliction in this area. SSCs claim that we

shouldn't be showing favoritism.

The Gospel was never intended to make us friends of the prevailing culture.

It's message will always offend.

What would Martin Luther King have said about our SSCs? I suspect that he

would have seen them in the light of the Southern White churches of the Jim

Crow days.

CAN YOU ARGUE AGAINST SUCCESS?

Willow Creek Church, the ultimate model of church success, where hundreds of thousands have come to learn the secrets of church growth, has admited that success requires far more than numbers. In 2008, the Christian Examiner wrote:

• Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study's findings are in a new book titled "Reveal: Where Are You?," co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings "ground breaking," "earth shaking" and "mind blowing."

• And no wonder: It seems that the "experts" were wrong.

• The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:

• "Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."

Meanwhile, the seeker-sensitive megachurches are booming. We automatically conclude that they must be doing something right, but are they?

While we don’t want to dismiss the concept of success entirely, success is more than numbers and offerings. Instead, it should be measured in terms of pleasing God. The Book of Hebrews alludes to heroes of the faith who were not recognized as successful. However, God viewed them otherwise:

• Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (Hebrews 11:36-39)

However, the seeker sensitives might be booming at the expense of the more biblically sound churches and a Christian impact on the general culture. While the seeker sensitives have grown, the Christian impact on the culture has seemingly diminished and the Christian faith has become more marginalized. This is evidenced in many ways – the growth of atheism, evolution, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, pornography, singleness, trial marriages, children born to single parents, and even the worldwide persecution of Christians and the corresponding silence of the church. If we are to measure success by numbers, we also have to regard these troubling observations.

How can we explain this correspondence between the growth of the “sensitives” and the diminished influence of Christianity? The more sensitive the church becomes towards the prevailing society, the less prophetic it will be. The more it seeks to pander to society, the less it is responsive to God and the light he wants us to shine.

Numbers are not God’s measure of success. Well then, what is? The Book of Daniel offers us an insider’s view:

• He [the angelic visitor] said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. (Daniel 10:11-12) 

This should be our measure of success!

The Great Commandment, Pragmatism, and Seeker Sensitivity

What is the most important commandment in the Bible?

·       Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

It even seems that if we get the first one right, the second one will fall into place:

·       This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:2-3)

This means that when we love God and follow His commands, we love “the children of God” at the same time. Consequently, if we want to love others, we cannot do it without first seeking to please God.

This principle also pertains to loving the church and our community. This idea might seem entirely uncontroversial, but it is not. Today, there are many completing ideas about how to build the church and to serve our world. For example, In “This Little Church Went to Market,” Pastor Gary Gilley notes that marketing considerations have trumped the first great commandment:

·       [People are] into spirituality, not religion….Behind this shift is the [church’s] search for an experiential faith, a religion of the heart, not the head. It’s a religious expression that downplays doctrine and dogma, and revels in direct experience of the divine–whether it’s called the ‘Holy Spirit’ or ‘cosmic consciousness’ or the ‘true self.’ It is practical and personal, more about stress reduction than salvation, more therapeutic than theological. It’s about feeling good, not being good. It’s as much about the body as the soul….Some marketing gurus have begun calling it ‘the experience industry.’ (pp. 20-21)

There is nothing the matter with marketing. However, when marketing and pragmatic concerns marginalize the first great commandment, we are treading on unholy ground. Jesus illustrated this principle with the Pharisees who elevated had their traditions to the level of Scripture:

·       “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" (Matthew 15:7-9)

The seeker sensitive churches seem to be more concerned about results – numbers and building their church – than in loving God by keeping His commandments. This concern can take many forms. Not teaching doctrines that might cause offense and drive seekers away is almost ubiquitous among them. In contrast, Paul claimed that he was innocent of the blood of all men because he didn’t shrink back from God’s entire counsel (Acts 20:26).

By pandering to the culture instead of faithfulness to God, the seeker sensitive church will not preach on many topics, like sexual sins, creationism, and even the persecuted church. They also tend to be ashamed of any show of favoritism towards other Christians, even Christian refugees who face genocide. Fearing the charge of “favoritism,” seekers sensitives hide their prophetic voice. Instead of serving as the light, they have embraced the prevailing, popular culture.  As one expert put it:

·       The church must show society that it does not favor Christian causes. This will merely further the polarization and heighten the tension between the church and its surrounding culture. (Rough paraphrase)

However, by embracing the culture, we have lost our prophetic voice.

Instead, we are directed to show mercy first to the household of faith (Gal. 6:10). Jesus also indicated that loving the brethren was especially important to Him:

·       “’When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'” (Matthew 25:39-40)

In contrast to Jesus’ priorities, seeker sensitive churches pay little attention to the extermination of Christians. Even prayer is seldom offered up on their behalf.

Instead, a disproportionate number of sermons are devoted to maintaining the community of believers, sometimes in ways that stretch the Word of God beyond its limits. For example, one seeker sensitive plant of the Redeemer Presbyterian Church, NYC wrote in the front of their Sunday bulletin:

·       “Prayer requires community. Prayer is not possible outside of, apart from, or in spite of the praying community… The assumption that prayer is what we do when we are alone – the solitary soul before God – is an egregious, and distressingly persistent, error.” (quoting Eugene H. Peterson)

Sadly, no one informed Jesus that His solitary mountainside walks to pray by Himself “is not possible” to do, and that His conduct represented “an egregious, and distressingly persistent, error.”

Why would this purportedly biblical church print such unbiblical nonsense? I can only guess that keeping their members in church, the only place that their prayers would matter, trumps biblical doctrine.

The life of Daniel and his friends illustrates the very opposite of seeker sensitivity. No, they weren’t trying to form a church, but they were concerned about their witness as Jews. However, it seems that Daniel hadn’t taken any seminar on influencing the culture. Instead, he rejected the generous Babylonian provisions of food in favor of vegetables in order to honor the Word of God. This could have brought upon him and his friends the contempt of the king. However, they were willing to risk it so as not to offend God. And God blessed them with great wisdom, and, ironically, the king was favorably impressed (Dan. 1:20).

Later, Daniel was able to not only interpret the king’s dream but also to tell him precisely what he had dreamed. As a result:

·       The king said to Daniel, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery." (Daniel 2:47)

What a testimony! As a result Daniel’s faithfulness:

·       The king placed Daniel in a high position and lavished many gifts on him. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the royal court. (Daniel 2:48-49)

But didn’t Daniel realize that having his friends appointed would incur the jealousy of the other officials? And it did! The king had made a great statue of gold before which everyone was required to bow. Some officials reported to the king that the three Hebrew friends failed to do so. He was furious and had the three brought before him. He then gave them another chance to bow and worship the statue.

If they would simply do this, they would not only win their own lives but would spare their Jewish brethren from the possibility of persecution. Furthermore, worshipping the statue would demonstrate to the Babylonians that the Jews were loyal citizens and that becoming a Jew would be something they’d be able to do without great cost to themselves. However, they rejected the idea of seeker sensitivity regarding the Babylonians who might have been contemplating Judaism.

Besides, they could have prayed secretly to Yahweh as they bowed before the statue. However, they wanted to remain faithful in every way. Instead, they proclaimed:

·       "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

Evidently, this stance pleased God, who miraculously rescued them from the furnace. Their witness also glorified their God before the King:

·       Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way." (Daniel 3:28-29)

There is no greater witness than our faithfulness before God. All of our politically correct thinking pales before the God who will act on behalf of those who trust in Him. Nevertheless, it is true that some will die as martyrs. But Jesus warned that once we put our hand to His plow, we cannot turn back. We cannot compromise for the sake of expediency or cultural acceptance.

The king then gave the three promotions. He recognized men of conviction.

Many years later under King Darius the Mede, Daniel had to undergo a similar trial. The king had appointed Daniel as one of his three administrators over his kingdom. However, Daniel excelled and incurred the jealousy of the others. Therefore, they persuaded to king to issue an unbreakable edict that no one would be allowed to worship another god besides Darius for the month. Daniel could have demonstrated his loyalty and gratefulness to the king by complying. This might have been sensitive thing to do for evangelism by demonstrating that the people could become Jews and remain loyal citizens at the same time.

However, as his enemies anticipated, Daniel continued in prayer to his God. They were then able to betray him to the king, who had no choice but to throw Daniel to the lions. Miraculously God rescued him. The impression on Darius was profound:

·       Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations and men of every language throughout the land: "May you prosper greatly! I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. "For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions." (Daniel 6:25-27)

Such a witness cannot be the result of seeker sensitivity or a calculated church growth analysis. Instead, this is the fruit of a man who will humble himself to trust in Christ alone!

How did God regard Daniel? Did He regard Him as a rigid legalist who lacked the sensitivity to weigh the obvious costs? Not at all!

·       While I [Daniel] was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the LORD my God for his holy hill-- while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, "Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. (Daniel 9:20-23)

What greater commendation could anyone receive! Let us trust in the One who promised that hell and death would not prevail against His Church. The One who has promised to give us an everlasting kingdom!