Willow Creek Church: Seeker-Sensitive No More?
For many of you, this may be old news since the story actually came out about a month ago, but somehow I missed it up until last week. It turns out something extraordinary happened recently: Willow Creek Church, pioneers of the "seeker-sensitive" movement, has declared they made a mistake. What mistake, you ask? The seeker-sensitive movement. When all is said and done, that may be a bit of an overstatement, but writer and radio host, Bob Burney, published an article for Baptist Press recently discussing the shocking revelation:
That's huge. I mean it's huge that they admit it. Seriously, to their credit, having spent literally millions on this stuff, to admit they were wrong is a big deal.
Many, including myself, have known for years it was a mistake to focus on "felt needs" and have said so many times. Though it should have been a no-brainer, the number of people being reached was hard to argue against. That doesn't mean we agreed, it just meant few people listen when it seems to be so effective. Numbers don't lie? Burney sums up the truth of the issue:
I don't mean to be discordant but I have to tell you, when I read this I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally, the seeker-sensitive movement has been revealed for what it is...a sham. It is a well-meaning sham, but a sham, nonetheless. It was a matter of feeding people what they wanted rather than what they needed, leading people to bounce around to find a church that made them feel good rather than making them disciples. Sadly, here is the reality...a reality that I hope this mass of "seeker-sensitive" shopping malls can admit to and remedy:
Then the reality of what this all means sets in: there always seems to be the desire to improve on the model set out in Scripture. Rather than really doing life together (which often gets very messy and uncomfortable), dedicating ourselves to the Word of God with all the difficulty that discipleship demands, giving up our own desires, taking up our cross and following Christ wherever He leads and finding joy in the journey, certainly there must be something better; there must be some other way that leads to massive church growth (never mind that doing it the Scripture way led to 3,000 converts in a single day--when was the last time you saw that happen?). Nah, looks like it's back to the old drawing board for the seeker-sensitive, church growth professionals...which is where the new and very real danger lies:
Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study's findings are in a new book titled "Reveal: Where Are You?," co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings "ground breaking," "earth shaking" and "mind blowing." And no wonder: It seems that the "experts" were wrong.
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:
"Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."
That's huge. I mean it's huge that they admit it. Seriously, to their credit, having spent literally millions on this stuff, to admit they were wrong is a big deal.
Many, including myself, have known for years it was a mistake to focus on "felt needs" and have said so many times. Though it should have been a no-brainer, the number of people being reached was hard to argue against. That doesn't mean we agreed, it just meant few people listen when it seems to be so effective. Numbers don't lie? Burney sums up the truth of the issue:
If you simply want a crowd, the "seeker-sensitive" model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it's a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states: "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 services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."
I don't mean to be discordant but I have to tell you, when I read this I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally, the seeker-sensitive movement has been revealed for what it is...a sham. It is a well-meaning sham, but a sham, nonetheless. It was a matter of feeding people what they wanted rather than what they needed, leading people to bounce around to find a church that made them feel good rather than making them disciples. Sadly, here is the reality...a reality that I hope this mass of "seeker-sensitive" shopping malls can admit to and remedy:
The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a "mistake." The extent of this error defies measurement.
Then the reality of what this all means sets in: there always seems to be the desire to improve on the model set out in Scripture. Rather than really doing life together (which often gets very messy and uncomfortable), dedicating ourselves to the Word of God with all the difficulty that discipleship demands, giving up our own desires, taking up our cross and following Christ wherever He leads and finding joy in the journey, certainly there must be something better; there must be some other way that leads to massive church growth (never mind that doing it the Scripture way led to 3,000 converts in a single day--when was the last time you saw that happen?). Nah, looks like it's back to the old drawing board for the seeker-sensitive, church growth professionals...which is where the new and very real danger lies:Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins: "Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he's asking us to transform this planet."That is a warning I hope we all take to heart. As people of The Word, we have to ask ourselves how we can really expect to improve on a perfect model? New ways of applying the unchanging biblical principles are fine...we need to be able to communicate with 21st Century culture, but we must not abandon the heart of the Gospel and basics of authentic discipleship in the process.
Isn't that what we were told when this whole seeker-sensitive thing started? The church growth gurus again want to throw away their old assumptions and "take out a clean sheet of paper" and, presumably, come up with a new paradigm for ministry. Should this be encouraging? Please note that "rooted in Scripture" still follows "rethink," "new insights" and "informed research." Someone, it appears, still might not get it. Unless there is a return to simple biblical (and relevant) principles, a new faulty scheme will replace the existing one and another generation will follow along as the latest piper plays.
Labels: Christian, Christianity, Church, David C. Price, Seeker-Sensitive
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 11/20/2007 05:45:00 AM
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