One of the most disturbing side effects of the seeker-sensitive fad is something I haven't said as much about: When one of the main aims of a ministry philosophy is to keep people entertained, church members inevitably become mere spectators. The architects of the modern megachurches admit that they have deliberately redesigned the worship service in order to make as few demands as possible on the person in the pew. After all, they don't want the "unchurched" to be intimidated by appeals for personal involvement in ministry. That's the very opposite of "seeker sensitivity."
Such thinking is spiritually deadly. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Practically the worst thing any churchgoer can do is be a hearer but not a doer (James 1:22-25). Christ himself pronounced doom on religious people who want to be mere bystanders (Matthew 7:26-27).
Friday, June 02, 2006
Church Members as Spectators
Some great thoughts from John MacArthur here:
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3 comments:
Good comments and they are appreciated. Here's an observation from a "spectator" - our church has so many paid staff that little is expected other than to "pay & pray". My talents (web design, finance, administration) are unused in our church because they do not care to use them.
Not that we are not active in attendance. Most of my service is outside the church in the arena of witness and evangelism.
Very good...and very helpful as I prepare to preach tomorrow. I'm preaching a series on The Grandeur of Worship, focusing on John 4:23-24 and God's seeking for true worshipers.
Whatever these churches are calling people to do, it is not biblical worship, and thus it is not in line with the purpose of God, the only real "Seeker."
congregational singing has not always been a staple of worship. in the fourth century, the laodicean council decreed that "besides the appointed singers who mount the ambo and sing from the book, others shall not sing in the Church". in their mind, congregational singing ruined the worshipful decorum.
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