Thoughts on "Seeker-Sensitive"

This link has a very good article that a friend of mine sent me that sort of sums what I believe is "seeker-sensitive."

That term has been tossed around a lot in today's church. Mainly, it means whatever is "new" and "fresh" in the contemporary church. It means finding a service that matches today's culture. In my opinion, that is a very surface level understanding of "seeker-sensitive." As Christians we MUST be sensitive to that which the seeker seeks (I Cor 9:19-23). So, what is it that the seeker seeks? A relevent service? A beautiful building? Programs for all ages? These are all important and helpful, but not essential. A seeker seeks to be connected to a relevent and genuine Body of Christ. Connection to a Body that is real, living, active, and sincere. If all they need is God, they can turn on TBN. If all they need is relevence, they can go to Turkey Creek. If all they need is something for their kids, they can go to Dollywood. What they need and want is you and me: transparent, real, sincere, relevent, honest, loving, caring, compassionate...I think you get the point.

Eugene Peterson gives a great paraphrase of the passage, "I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ - but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view." Paul was not encouraging the Corinthian Church to become "seeker sensitive." He was encouraging the people to connect with those who do not know Christ...to become a seeker-sensitive person...to become a relevent and genuine part of the Body...like he was for the purpose of drawing the seeker to that which he/she was seeking...connection to the Body and salvation found in Jesus Christ.

We can be incredibly effective as we all grasp this understanding of connecting with the lost. Hopefully, this article will help better our understanding of what people really want in a Church. Thanks for taking time to read my ramblings. I sent this out to a few folks at Church here and decided to blog about it as well. Still working through it...obviously...