Seeker Driven Vs. Spirit Driven?
A friend of mine sent me a disturbing email about a person who approached a leader at a local Seeker Driven church here in the Des Moines area and asked if there were opportunities to get a little more "meat" or growth? Reportedly the answer was that they are a "seeker" church, and if they feel like they need more growth they will need to go elsewhere.
Now, this information passed through two people before getting to me but it made me do some thinking about seeker driven churches.
I don't think arguing about whether Seeker Driven churches are effective or not is profitable. People show up, I'm sure God uses them, etc. Some would argue that they grow at the expense of other churches that are shrinking and we are merely passing around church people and calling it growth but the leaders of Seeker churches say that people are coming to Christ. He said...she said...whatever.
My question for anyone who attends a Seeker Driven church or any number of "Outreach-Oriented Emerging Churches" is this: What does the Scriptures say is the purpose of the regular gathering of the church?
It seems that Hebrews 10:25 and Ephesians 4:11-12 paint a picture of the Church (capital C - His Body/Bride) meeting together to edify and equip EACH OTHER to go do the very thing the Seeker Driven churches are trying to do during the assembly. Does this emphasis on evangelism at the assembly not rob the Church of maturity and growth by not equipping THEM to go do the work of the ministry?
Inevitably some will say "But God is blessing Seeker Churches with growth..." as if to say that money and an audience are signs that everything is great. Aaron had a golden calf and everyone worship it. Was that God's blessing? The Pharisees had money, a building, and everyone's attention. Was that God's vision for pure and undefiled religion? The Catholic church had money, buildings, and an audience. As much as I respect them now, it lead to a dark period of indulgences, inquisitions, and strife nearly unrivaled in world religion.
"But you know that Seeker Driven churches aren't like those examples."
You're right. But those examples do point out that your measuring stick is flawed. People showing up, and dropping off a check on the way out with a smile on their face is not the appropriate measure of success. What does God's Word say about church? What's it for? And why are we so scared to do His work? I know it's easier to invite your neighbor to a church (little c - building/service) to be entertained into the Kingdom but is that what God is asking of us?
I would argue that 1 Corinthians 9:19-27 (the very verse used by many Seeker Driven Churches to define their mission) is not talking about a church (building/service) being "outreach oriented," but His Church (capital C - individuals) doing the work of the ministry with our neighbors, co-workers, family members, and friends; having been equipped by the fellowship with others to do the work of the ministry. It's harder, it's messier, and it's scarier to do it the Biblical way. Relying on the Spirit to guide us and give us the words to say and actions to fulfill is hard, but I think that's the beauty of it. It requires far more faith and obedience than just saying, "Hey! Wanna go to church with me Sunday?" In addition, it demands that we truly love our neighbors...because only then will they receive our message. Sounds like something Jesus told us to do...
I'm sure there are many mature believers within each Seeker Driven church and I applaud the movement's concern for those who are not yet believers. But I find the work of evangelism confined to invitations to church services very unsettling in light of the Scripture's prescription for the gathering together of believers.
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I was in a Barnes & Noble this weekend and was surprised when I ran across a book by Rick Warren...on how to study the Bible. It isn't necessarily what I expected from him, but if he's encouraging people to turn to the Bible, I certainly can't fault that.
Interesting post. I am learnign about so many "themed" churches
I like what you have to say. There are churches that have forget the purpose of meeting together. I will say that I am part of the emerging church movement and have never seen a seeker driven emerging church. The emerging church movement actually started as a reaction against seeker sensitive and purpose driven church models. The emerging church movement has sought to bring back the idea of true worship, discipleship and equiping to the church body. The thougth is that if someone is truly a seeker they will actually be attracted to people who are authentically worshiping, being discipled and equiped. I am not a big fan of "seeker" and "purpose-driven" churches (though there are some that are doing great work), but I am a firm believer in the purposes of the emerging church movement. Of course, it is a very diverse movement and cannot be nailed down to one philosphy.
BTW - It seems we have something in common. I work as a development (fundraising) professional and am an Iowa native. Unfortunatley, I am stuck in Chicagoland.
a human bean,
I'm with you. What type of organization to you work for? I work at a private school.
I'm with you on the Emergent Church. I was referring to an increasing number of Seeker Driven churches that are starting to call themselves "Outreach-Oriented Emerging Churches" because it's become the cool thing to be.
I also agree that the emerging church is an aggregate of a lot of different philosophies on church and can't be defined. I find a lot of it to be the next wave like the Seeker Driven churches have been over the last decade. I highly recommend the book "The Shaping of Things to Come" by Hirsch and Frost. You'll love it if you are of an emerging mindset.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will definitly get it. I work for one more week at an organization that raises money for a childrens home and a senior community for those in need. In both cases the people there are completely taken care of. However, I have taken a position at Blackbaud starting May 1.
I have not heard about seeker church trying to use the emergent name. I hate to see that happening. The emergent church is about depth, relationship and life change. Seeker churches tend to be superficial and entertainment oriented. Oh well. In the end it is about God.
That was the world's fastest reply to a comment! Good luck at Blackbaud...I agree in general with your assessment about Ermerging Churches. I hope it stays that way. The hard thing with popular movements in the church is they tend to commercialize and institutionalize...the death nail of any movement.
the problem with seeker churches is that they huddle in their own little christian world and, yea, if a new face happens to appear, then they've done some good work and pat each other on the back.
most of the people i've met who are involved in seeker missions don't actually spend any time evangelizing in the real world. they hold events and meetings that they expect to 'attract' new people, but those things make new people feel too alienated. instead of going to a real coffee shop, the crusade kids have coffee in someone's dorm hall.
instead of hanging out with people in bars or at parties and making friends, they have social events with root beer kegs.
jesus loves us for not involving ourselves in the activities of the sinners!!
Just to let you know I have a new blog
Debbie (So oyou might have to change me on your links...sorry:(
I have a question. I will try to think of how to phrase it and be back.
Joe, you said, "jesus loves us for not involving ourselves in the activities of the sinners!!" but based on the context, I don't understand what you mean. You seem to be indicating the "attracting" people to events isn't as good as being with them where they are, but then you threw this comment in and it didn't seem to fit.
I think we all need to be careful not to vilify Christian groups. That is what we who have grown up in “the church” have been trained to do. We have been trained to think that whatever we are doing today is the best and greatest thing to happen in the history of Christendom and we can’t believe anyone would do anything differently.
I tend to agree with the house church movement, but each movement has strengths and weaknesses. Trying to figure out how to mutually encourage and unite our different ways of ministry would probably be better than figuring out new ways to make fun of other people’s WAY of doing “church”.
I am curious...when folks refer to the "Emerging Church", is this what they mean?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_Church
Thanks! Littlefoot (Dan from Texas...)
Littlefoot - In my humble opinion that wikipedia page spells it out as best as one can. They are hard to pin down. They tend to appreciate elements of tradition (ie. stained glass, candles, older songs, etc.) but shun any hint of modern denominational affiliation because they view (correctly) that it would pigeon-hole them.
The only problem I have with Emerging Churches is that many, as stated on the wiki page, tend to find it difficult to stand up for truth when pushed. Their hesitency to stand up for absolute truth as often spelled out in the Scriptures is troubling. But their willingness to reach out to others in missional, loving ways is incredibly encouraging. I think this leads to an unecessary fear of offending the nonbeliever, though.
I want to strive to reach out like they do but when push comes to shove and the topic of Jesus, sin, and redemption come up, many (especially most of those who are not called) will be offended because the Scriptures are clear that the Gospel is a stumbling block and an offense to those that do not believe.
However, I do want to point out that I fully believe with the "centered-set" principle that there are no behavioral standards for being a Christian. We are all on a journey to be closer to Christ as believers and some don't look like they are close at all. A typically evangelical way of looking at this subject is a "bounded set" which is mentioned in the wiki page and in my favorite book "The Shaping of Things To Come." This bounded set says that in order to be a believer you need to look a certain way, act a certain way, or at least believe a certain way about issues that are often times not critical for salvation or faith.
Human nature is to build structure and opinion into our religion...but Jesus just said beleive. I feel if that belief is a accompanied by prayer that God would change our desires and draw us closer to Him - that's all that's needed. No religion. No dogmatism. No legalism. Just love and patience.
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