Saturday, July 02, 2005
I recently came across this observation by R.C. Sproul concerning the seeker sensitive phenomenon. "If worship were to be tailored for seekers," Sproul says, "it would be directed exclusively to believers, for no one except believers ever seeks God."
That is a great point. After all, Scripture declares that there is no one who seeks God (Romans 3:11). This of course raises the whole question of the effect of sin. Are human beings truly dead in sin or merely sick, with the ability to seek after God? The biblical diagnosis is clear: we are spiritually dead by nature (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13). And of course only God can bring life from spiritual death.
Speaking of seeker sensitivity, yesterday I drove by a thriving seeker sensitive church in my city and noticed that their church sign had all the service times listed. But instead of using the word "worship," the sign referred to "celebration times." Although I certainly believe in the joyful and celebratory nature of worship, substituting the word "celebration" for "worship" did not sit right with me.
I guess what I find so troubling about the seeker sensitive movement (although I commend said movement's desire to reach people for Jesus Christ) is its cultural accommodation. To reach "seekers," many in the SSM seem to be adopting worldly methods. This brings to mind the unbiblical mantra of the World Council of Churches in the 1960s: "the world sets the agenda for the church." There seems to me to be a striking parallel between seeker sensitivity and much of mainline Protestantism on this point; both seem marked by an accommodation to prevailing culture.
How much better to do God's work God's way, not downplaying or ignoring the important biblical themes of sin, repentance, holiness, judgment, etc. And how much better to let God and His Word set the agenda for the church, rather than adjusting/accommodating to a sin-darkened world.
I defer to Sproul once again: "In our day we have witnessed the eclipse of the Gospel. That dark shadow that obscures the light of the Gospel is not limited to Rome or liberal Protestantism; it looms heavily with the Evangelical community."
See the following link for more information on the Seeker Sensitive Movement:
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/seeker.html
