Have Seeker Friendly Churches Jumped the Tract?

I must begin by saying that I have been a proponent of the seeker friendly church since its earliest days. My first exposure to this method of growing a church was through Donald McGavran's book The Bridges of God. McGavran simply looked at the churches that were growing and then set about to identify the sociological factors that those churches exhibited.  He did not superimpose sociological trends to the church. Instead he simply observed which ones were at work in churches that are growing. This to him suggested that if a church wanted to grow it simply had to find a way to implement those same sociological trends into their own church culture.

Personally as I immersed myself in McGavran's theories and George Barnea's survey research I too began to see the value of knowing what people of any given era are apt to respond to so that a positive result is obtained . . .  in short, my church began to grow numerically. As Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory TV show, often says, "Bazinga!" . . .  a light went off in my mind and we began applying those principles but only if we could guarantee we did not compromise Biblical truth.

As I read McGavran in his early works I became convinced that growth was a sign of a healthy church and that the lack of growth meant that the church was living in an unhealthy way.  Like human growth (Paul often compared the church to the growth of a person) there had to be quality growth in spiritual maturity . . . meaning members were becoming more Christ-like. The second element of growth was an increase in numbers of people reached (Evangelism, i.e., making Christ known).

Essential to increases in quality and quantity growth is an shared underlying operating viewpoint regading growth among the church leadership. Simply put, the leaders, both clergy and laity had to be of a single mindset. Amos rightly asked,  "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" A church will never grow if its leadership is divided. Sadly in many small to medium size churches leadership is often fragmented because of perceived threats or challenges to authority.  Disunity in leadership is the root cause of the poor health of any church that is not growing. We must always keep in mind that church growth is not about us. . . . it is all about Jesus and the redemption of the lost he died to redeem.
Once I understood the need for unity leadership I realized it was leaderships responsibility to lead the church to the same kind of unity of purpose. In Acts we read that "All the believers were one in heart and mind." This was the secret of their remarkable growth!

I gleaned 4 basic principles of church growth that absolutely must be put into practice
First, I had to ask myself as well as the rest of our leadership, "Why do you want your church to grow?  All kinds of reasons were given but they were all insufficient. The only correct answer to this question is "for the joy of seeing people come to know Jesus and grow as His disciples." If you can't genuinely give that answer then we may need to do an ego check. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Prov. 16:18). Folks we are not to bear fruit for the purpose of feeding our egos.
The second thing I had to learn was to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that New Faces equals healthy growth. People transferring from other churches to our church may give the illusion of growth but ultimately it is not healthy church growth. Remember, the Great Commission does not say, “Go therefore and transfer disciples.” What it does say is, “Go and make disciples.” Reaching the lost with the gospel should be our growth process. We growth by birthing new Christians.

A third realization, "This isn't going to be quick or easy fix!  You must realize there are no quick fixes –  I wish there was some sort of Miracle Grow that we could sprinkle on the church lawn and watch the church grow.  Perseverance pays off in church growth. Most churches fail to grow because if it doesn't work in a month or to they go on to some other plan. There is no 4 week series or program that will serve as a miracle cure for your church. Growing a church through the conversion of the lost takes time, hard work, and commitment.

Finally, I discovered that as pastor I had to set the tone for others to follow. If I want a church where people share their faith with lost friends and neighbors then I must do exactly that. That does not mean you only share it from the pulpit, but one on one with people in your community and family. Don’t expect your members to do something that you yourself are not willing to do. Starting with the pastor right on through the rest of the leadership example is more powerful than your words when it comes to leading people in outreach.

Now I did not announce to anyone what were the principles that underpinned the programs and activities that I promoted. I just talked about finding ways to reach the people who lived in our community. I wasn't interested in what they were doing at Saddleback Church (Rick Warren) or any of the other "seeker friendly" churches. I wanted to find ways to understand the people in my community and what it was going to take to reach them without compromising doctrinal truth.  

The danger that I see with the Seeker Friendly church growth model is that as time passes it lends itself to a slow but steady de-emphasis of doctrine and Biblical truth.  As my Late friend and religious satirist Dan McBride would say in one of his song, "We got to get them in any way we can."  In short, it opened the way for us to rationalize many of our activities. It is this "get them any way you can" that has derailed the seeker friendly church. We are to be in the world but not of the world" and become in many respects indistinguishable from the world. 

Over the years as disciples of McGavran's Institute of Basic Church Growth which was housed at Fuller Theological Seminary began to influence a whole generation of pastors including yours truly. Over time the approach to Seeker Friendly became diversified until we now have four basic (many varieties within each of these) varieties of Seeker Friendly Churches. 

Probably the most famous and widely copied of the Seeker Friendly models is that exemplified by Rick Warren and the Saddleback Church in California. Often referred to as the Attractive Church Model. In this model the programming of the church and its various organizations is tailored to appeal to the basic culture of the community. This involves the use of having sports teams in municipal leagues, workshops and seminars that deal with issues facing the community population. In short, programming is targeted or to use Rick Warren's terminology is "purpose-driven."  I highly recommend both of Rick's books on this subject, The Purpose Driven Life and the Purpose Driven Church. 

The second is the model that says we must find the things people are interested in doing and make it a mission of the church and allow anyone (Christian or non-Christian) to participate. Often referred to as the Missional Model.  It is a modern version of the "half-way" covenant of the 1700's.  Basically it says we can win them if we can't get them in the door. They really were the target of my friends satirical song mentioned earlier.

Probably the largest group of seeker friendly churches follow what I call "Praise Model. Promoted by Brian Boley this model stresses praise. Members of the church are trained to constantly "Praise the Lord" in public and especially in he presence of their friends and neighbors. The idea is this will eventually establish them as religiously authoritative and these friends and neighbors will eventually be lead to God.

Finally there is what I tag the "Soul Winning Model." This is the traditional New Testament model and the one that has historically been the dominant  approach of  hard core Bible-believing Christians.  It is the approach I always used as my basic approach to church growth.  In many ways it is similar to Rick Warren's approach but with a strong pulpit and teaching ministry that is closely linked to Biblical Theology rather than contemporary issues. Contemporary issues are not ignored but they are approached from a "Thus saith the Lord" and "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" perspective and less of a modern humanistic and psychological theory perspective.

I personally like this approach because it not only increased the attendance at services but it strengthened members spiritually for the challenges they were facing or would be facing in the future. I remember my wife's uncle when he was pastor of the McDowell Road Baptist Church in Mississippi, then the fastest growing church in the state, say, "I have a church full of people who are five miles wide and 1/2 inch deep. Every little crises causes them to loose their faith." It is easier to get them in than it is to get them to mature spiritually. If they don't have a spiritual birth there will be no spiritual growth and no spiritual stamina.  Never forget, it always begins with the "New Birth."

We need to keep in mind that our job is to make disciples not grow churches. God grows the church as we are faithful to make disciples. I will not, like John MacArthur of Grace Community Church and his disciples seek to condemn the whole evangelistic movements of the 19-20th century as well as the seeker friendly churches of today. After all, he has a reformed theology agenda of his own to promote and defend.

So much for history. I started this article by asking, "Have Seeker Friendly Churches Jumped the Tract?" My answer is, "In general yes." I get around to all kinds of "churches." (I put that quotation mark intentionally because I am not at all convinced every place with the word church in its name is really a church.) Some are nothing more than a band of people who couldn't get along with other bodies of believers or who a rift with theological error.  

But back to the "falling of the track."  I contend that when the user friendly church no long places a priority of preaching the whole of the gospel, both "makes me feel good parts" and the "makes me feel bad parts" it has ceased to be the body of Christ.

The Scripture does not glibly say, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you."  Our goal as the church is not to be acceptable to the culture but to reflect the character of Christ and proclaim the Gospel of redemption. Jesus made it clear when he said, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." Again he told his disciples, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." 

The point is NOT to deliberately try to stand out as a sore thumb in order to suffer for Jesus sake. It is to be so Christ like and biblical in our living that the world will reject you and yes, sometimes even persecute you. 

The seeker friendly train jumped the tract when it started relying on gimmicks, tricks and worldly activities to do the work of an evangelist. It jumped the track when we started preaching to social issues and not proclaiming the gospel of redemption. It jumped off the track when it began stressing "feel good" over "do good." Somewhere along the way it became all about "feeling" the Spirit and not about proclamation of the Gospel.  

What I am suggesting is that while I agree with the basics of McGavran's seeker friendly concept I am of the opinion it has lost its way and is now dominated by "easy believism" performance oriented and feel good religion. Form matters but substance matters more.  

I am suggesting a return to basics. In the broadest sense, “back to basics” means taking the time to refocus your attention on the fundamental growth elements and habits that have been neglected during recent times.  I promise, when a congregation starts experiencing people being saved and lives really changed the church will grow. 

Has your church "jumped the track?" Here's my suggestion for getting back on tract:  

DEFINE YOUR PURPOSE as well as all of its elements. Then take the best out of all four of the above approaches but make sure that the focus is not on how it makes you feel but how does it present the crucified Christ and how men are justified before God. Make sure that the centrality of preaching is maintained and that the worship service edifies the body as well as offers an opportunity to bless and praise the Lord. 

FOCUS YOUR MESSAGE on winning the Lost to faith in Christ. This should be both a pulpit and personal focus. Encourage and work with your leadership people to get them to do the same.  Adopt Jesus' mission statement: "The son of man is come to seek and save the lost."

KEEP YOUR FOCUS ON YOUR TASK and be persistent in achieving your goal . . . the salvation of the lost.  As you do this you will discover that over time you will reap even from places where you haven't sown.  This means that every program in your church must be focused on your over-riding task of winning people to faith in Christ.

We are not a Traditional Church; we are not a Contemporary Church; there is no such thing as Grown-up Church and there is no such thing as Children's Church. There is just the Body of Christ on mission for Christ to bring people to salvation.