Are We Seeker-Friendly?
Any response to this question could be just as perilous as responding to the wife who asks plaintively "am I gaining weight?" There are times when it is best to simply follow the example of the ostrich and bury your head in the sand, hoping that the danger will simply pass you by if you pretend it does not exist. If you answer in the affirmative, then half of us will bitingly wonder aloud if you care as much about doctrine as you do entertainment. But then if you should distance yourself from such activities then the other half of us will lambast you for not having the heart of Christ for the lost.
Seeker friendly. What if both sides are missing the point? What if the point isn't so much about our methods of church as it is about church itself. Why do we do all that we do, regardless of what it is we're doing.? These questions can well be applied to all manner of life, but in this context they are reserved for our ecclisiological activities.
Why do we do all that we do? In the manner that we do it? Should we change anything? Change nothing? Should we make minor modifcations to the basic structure of the service or change it all wholesale? What kind of people should be on stage? What kind of people should be leading off the stage? I hear a lot about the Acts church, and doing things in order to look more like the Acts church. How much, in truth, should we be a cookie cutter image of the 1st century church? How much should we be different, and in what way? I see a lot of differences in the churches just in my neighborhood-- how do I know which ones are the right one?
Seeker-friendly. Why do only the heathen, pagan, and atheist get to be the seekers? Why do they get to have all the fun of asking probing questions with no tangible answer anywhere in sight? I want to be a seeker. I feel a hunger growing inside of me--I long to sink my teeth into this whole concept of what it means that people are joined together by God to form the body of the God they worship when they gather in his name.
In short, I wish that every church were seeker friendly, but that it had nothing to do with one's approach to evangelism. We must question everything about how we do our particular form of worship; not out of a spirit of arrogant rebellion, but with sincere questions aimed at glorifying God in his excellence.
May we all remain seekers on life's journey of discovery--may we never consider our personal level of expertise to be the crest.
Any response to this question could be just as perilous as responding to the wife who asks plaintively "am I gaining weight?" There are times when it is best to simply follow the example of the ostrich and bury your head in the sand, hoping that the danger will simply pass you by if you pretend it does not exist. If you answer in the affirmative, then half of us will bitingly wonder aloud if you care as much about doctrine as you do entertainment. But then if you should distance yourself from such activities then the other half of us will lambast you for not having the heart of Christ for the lost.
Seeker friendly. What if both sides are missing the point? What if the point isn't so much about our methods of church as it is about church itself. Why do we do all that we do, regardless of what it is we're doing.? These questions can well be applied to all manner of life, but in this context they are reserved for our ecclisiological activities.
Why do we do all that we do? In the manner that we do it? Should we change anything? Change nothing? Should we make minor modifcations to the basic structure of the service or change it all wholesale? What kind of people should be on stage? What kind of people should be leading off the stage? I hear a lot about the Acts church, and doing things in order to look more like the Acts church. How much, in truth, should we be a cookie cutter image of the 1st century church? How much should we be different, and in what way? I see a lot of differences in the churches just in my neighborhood-- how do I know which ones are the right one?
Seeker-friendly. Why do only the heathen, pagan, and atheist get to be the seekers? Why do they get to have all the fun of asking probing questions with no tangible answer anywhere in sight? I want to be a seeker. I feel a hunger growing inside of me--I long to sink my teeth into this whole concept of what it means that people are joined together by God to form the body of the God they worship when they gather in his name.
In short, I wish that every church were seeker friendly, but that it had nothing to do with one's approach to evangelism. We must question everything about how we do our particular form of worship; not out of a spirit of arrogant rebellion, but with sincere questions aimed at glorifying God in his excellence.
May we all remain seekers on life's journey of discovery--may we never consider our personal level of expertise to be the crest.
posted by Tim at 3:06 PM
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