Seeker-Sensitive Remixed

The Willow-Creek Saddleback model has come in for a considerable degree of criticism. There are those who resisted it from the beginning. There are others who believe that its time has come and gone. I believe that much good has been done for the cause of the kingdom by these churches; however, there is unavoidable baggage when attendees are trained to think as consumers and start their journey toward Christ expecting to be entertained.

Some have rejected the slick, highly-produced presentation of the gospel and gone to the other extreme of rough-edged, spontaneous, “authentic” gatherings.

In New York City, Redeemer Presbyterian Church is following a “third way.” It is lead by the gifted Tim Keller. (This guy makes me feel like a pre-school dropout.) He suggests that the pastor speak to believers and unbelievers at the same time. In fact, he says, “Speak to your whole community, not just the ones in the seats.”

Traditional services tend to assume that the listeners have lots of biblical knowledge and are familiar with the insider jargon. They also tend to use “we-them” language. Consequently, the Christians who attend the service know that their non-believing friends would not feel welcome in the service.

Instead, a pastor should try to create an environment where the Christian attendee would say, “Oh! I wish my non-Christian friend could see (or hear) this!”

But this does not involve “watering down” the gospel. But it does involve presenting the gospel in different terms. The gospel has traditionally been presented as “forgiveness from sin.” But in a world where people don’t accept the concept of sin and say they don’t believe in moral absolutes, this approach falls flat.

Keller suggests that sin be explained in this fashion, “Sin keeps you from being free as you need to be, and therefore it enslaves and de-humanizes you.” The gospel shifts from being a gospel of forgiveness to being a gospel of freedom.

Now there is nothing unbiblical about this. We have been so conditioned to think of the gospel in terms of a legal transaction, that we have failed to notice all the other ways the gospel is presented in the New Testament. (See Three Gospels.)

Non-believers value freedom. They see religion as “restrictive.” They need to hear the need for the gospel is these terms, “You are actually being religious, though you don’t know it—trying to be righteous in a destructive way.”

Then they can hear the good news that Jesus Christ redeems us, frees us from slavery.

Tomorrow I’ll look at how Keller suggests that a pastor can speak to believers and non-believers at the same time and be effective with both groups.

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”