Struggling Seeker-Sensitive Services

  The church that helped spawn the “seeker sensitive” church movement is changing the way it does church.  Willow Creek, with senior pastor Bill Hybels, first pironeered the seeker sensitive structure on a large scale.  Hybels leads a newwork of 10,500 churches and trains more than 100,000 pastors a year.  He has also been named one of TIME magazine’s 25 Most Influential Evangelicals.

 

In the fall of last year, Willow Creek came out with some results of a new study that shows big elaborate programs do not increase the amount of Christ-following disciples.  Hybels said:

“We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”

 

Evidentally, people are not nearly as concerned with anonymity and low-pressure services as once thought.  Here are three things revealed by a survey:

1. People want help understanding the Bible at a greater depth.
2. People want help developing a closer personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
3. People want to be challenged to grow and take the next step in their faith.

So here’s a question I hope will stimulate some conversation in the “COMMENTS” section…

HOW CAN WE AS A CHURCH PRACTICALLY TRACK OUR EFFECTIVENESS AT MEETING THESE THREE NEEDS?

Let’s hear your comments!  You can read the new strategy for Willow Creek in THIS ARTICLE.

 

 

A Hole In The Head

  Well, it was bound to happen…Josiah got his first possible scar.  He was standing on his chair in the bathroom looking at his freshly brushed teeth in the mirror when he lost his balance and cracked his head on the corner of our bath tub.  Blood IMMEDIATELY began pouring all over his hair, down his neck, onto his back, and through his shirt.  Had I not grabbed a rag and put some pressure on the open wound, he would have been covered in blood!

 

Spiritually, there’s a lot to be learned from Josiah’s war wound:

 

1. The head is one of the worst places to get wounded.  Pastors and church leaders walk around with a 24/7 target on them.  Satan knows that if he can strike the shepherd, the sheep will scatter.  We need to pray for extra protection on these men and women.  They can take a lot of crap, but once they get hurt, it REALLY cuts deep!
2. When the head is wounded, the rest of the body feels the hurt.  Just as the blood from Josiah’s head naturally flowed to the lower parts of the body, so it is in the church.  When the pastor is hurting, he can’t lead, counsel, pray, serve, love, and defend as well as he used to.  I know of many churches that don’t help when the pastor is hurting.  They just continue to scream, “FEED ME!” and “TAKE CARE OF ME!!!”.  Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing (heck, maybe even BIBLICAL) if the body of Christ would run to the aid of their pastor when someone inflicts a wound on him?  What if they defended him as the Father of their faith and the protector of their souls?  NOW THAT WOULD BE A CHURCH!!!
3. Wounds can heal with time and the proper care.  The doctor cleaned the wound, taking all of the junk out and getting down to the real cause of all the bleeding.  Sometimes with all of the false accusations, rumors, and confusion, we need to help our pastors work through all of the stuff that is clouding us from seeing the real cause of all of the pain.  Once we find it, let’s seal it up and give things time to heal.  Don’t keep taking him back to the same pain as before and don’t let others do it either!  Give God time to fully heal your pastor.  Time and the proper attention can make the leader of your church stronger, wiser, and healthier than ever before. 

 

So church, let’s guard the head…He’s watching out for you through the mandate of your heavenly Father!