Friday, January 25, 2008
- Dennis Newkirk
Church Growth Movement, Seeker Drive Mentality, or Social Activism...
That’s not God’s way! I left an executive position with an insurance company to return to college for a Bible degree in 1975. After college, at the advice of mentors I went on to seminary. While in school, I pastored small churches and learned about the ministry. Those dear people in Phoenix, Kansas City, and California were so patient with me. As I think back on it now, I cannot imagine how they endured my feeble attempts at leadership and preaching.
Wanting to learn everything that I could, I attended denominational meetings where we were taught how to “grow the church.” The ones I remember best had to do with the Growth Spiral and the Super Growth Spiral. The thing that really struck me was that the philosophy and techniques were the same as those I had employed in the insurance industry. They were recommending secular selling techniques to affect numerical growth in the church.
A few years later, the “seeker sensitive” and “seeker driven” concepts became the rage. The goal was the same as the Super Growth Spiral, numerical growth. Worship services were aimed at “seekers.” A seeker was defined as a person who was seeking to learn more about God. One of the real problems with this movement was that it tended to compromise worship in order not to offend the seekers!
What is happening today? I am not sure, but it seems that there is a radical shift toward social activism. Churches that once were on the cutting edge of the seeker sensitive movement are now becoming consumed with healing diseases and correcting social injustice. I am all for healing and correcting but is that what the Church’s focus is to be? Or is this another fad that will pass in a few years because it fizzled out too?
Ephesians 4:11-16 tells us that our purpose is to glorify God through focusing on the maturing of Christians so that all believers can be used for the building up of the body of Christ. (“Building up” has to do more with influence, obedience, and maturity than it does with numbers.) That is why we must not be afraid of offending people by our worship. As we preach, sing, read the Word, pray, give offerings, and observe the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, we are doing what we are commanded to do in worship. We must do these without watering down the content or compromising the message. This is something that will never go out of style because it is God’s plan.
As you may have noticed, we have made some major adjustments in our worship services. We are moving toward greater simplicity, authenticity, and depth. Our goal is to glorify Christ and encourage every worshipper to be a truly passionate worshipper. Since instituting our revised worship approach several weeks ago, we are hearing some amazingly encouraging testimonies from church members. It is wonderful to come back to the heart of worship and leave the Super Growth Spirals, seeker drive, and social activism behind. When Christ is worshipped, the believer is changed and the unsaved are attracted.
I love being your pastor,
Dennis