Seeking Purpose, God or Self?

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. ~ Psalm 14: 1-3

Our lack of desire to truly know God is an expression of our depravity and rebellious nature. It is not we who seek Him but rather, He who seeks us. What we do seek is self gratification. Happiness. Good times. Peel away all of the appearance of good things and deep down, what we really seek is a way to avoid God. I know what you're thinking, "But what about all of the seeker-sensitive churches?" "What about all of the religions in the world?" It would appear that there are a lot of people seeking God. Really? Or could it be that what we're really trying to do is make a god in OUR image to suit OUR desires? That's exactly why we have so many different religions. It wasn't enough that we had His Word; No, we had to re-shape God to fit us.

Enter the Purpose Driven, Seeker Sensitive, Emerging Church movement.

Where church is all about meeting the felt needs of those outside of the church. Where church is done to attract these 'seekers'. After years of surveying the unregenerate (sorry, I mean seekers), and doing extensive marketing research, it was determined that the reason people were not interested in God or church was because.... God is boring and church is well... too churchy. Now we have thousands of churches across America bringing in thousands of people and giving them a false sense of salvation simply because they go to church now. So what exactly are these seekers getting fed when they come to church? Everything they've asked for, that's what. They are entertained, taught "How to have a better (fill in the blank)" and made to feel right at home in a church that looks & sounds like the world. No more stuffy church. No more condemnation or talk of sin and hell to make them feel uncomfortable. the Gospel of old doesn't 'sell' anymore. The new social gospel with a twist of moralism sprinkled on for good measure is the theme today. Topical. Relevant. Cool. Trendy. Something to change your life.

So what's wrong with that you say?



For more on this topic...
check out "Worshipping The Seeker" at Tim Challies blog.

There's nothing wrong with being sensitive to those we call "seekers" but we shouldn't be compromising the Gospel in the process. I believe it is possible to 'do' church in a culturally relevant way AND still preach (yes, I said preach) the Word. Despite what many think today, the Bible still is relevant and very capable of teaching us everything we need. Church is about glorfying God. Leave the silliness of the world IN the world please.


~ktf~
John