"... the push within churches across the country to make worship services more "relevant" and therefore more attractive to the world. It's the driving force behind the marketing ploys and high-tech entertainment gimmicks churches use to promote growth".
Mark Mittelberg provides a more positive explanation:
"These churches are central players in the so-called seeker-church movement. The concept of seeker-sensitivity, properly understood, is not new and not controversial — because it’s biblical. In fact, the apostle Paul said, "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity" (Col. 4:5). He also said, "I have become all things to all people . . . for the sake of the gospel" (1 Cor. 9:22-23)".
It's not my purpose in this entry to engage the vitriolic sides of the debate pro and con for the seeker sensitive model (although we'll have fun at the expense of both sides in future entries!) but to reveal the roots of seeker sensitive thinking.
So I'm at work the other day and in the late afternoon my energy was waning. This kind of dilemma called for only one solution - carbohydrates, and the more inline with pure sugar the better. If I could just ride the rush through the remainder of the afternoon, and avoid the crash as I'm making my way home through rush hour traffice (yes, a pun wherein I refer to the recession of sugar induced energy followed by the potential for drowsy driving) victory would be mine. Scanning the contents of the Pandora's Box we call a vending machine, I saw a treat laden with potential - M&M's Bite Size Cookies.
One bite was all it took - the taste brought long buried memories to again see the light of consciousness. I was transported into my past, where I was being served treats at that bastion of Baptist subterfuge, that intersection of spirituality and childhood - Vacation Bible School.
Yes, the taste of those shortbread cookies brought it all back. In that moment revelation came - this was seeker sensitive. Make no mistake, the music - catchy to kids, annoying to adults (deep and wide, deep and wide there's a fountain flowing deep and wide...aaugh!), the treats - cookies and punch to break down our resolve and allow indoctrination to occur, and the predecessor to Powerpoint - oh yesss, I'm talking about the flannelgraph. I loved to see those great Bible stories reenacted with little cutout cartoon characters placed carefully on the flannelgraph:
Dear reader, can you see the incontrovertible evidence binding the roots of seeker sensitive ministry deeper and further than we ever imagined? Let us postpone the pro/con argument for now and return to the carefree days of watching our VBS teachers cultivate our theology with a piece of felt and some paper cutouts. As we close this post let's consider a few other Biblical candidates for flannelgraph presentations:
- Jesus throwing the moneychangers out of the temple
- Simeon and Levi wreaking their sharp (pun intended) revenge against Hamar and Shechem
- Jehu stomping on Jezebel's corpse after it is thrown from the tower
