Uh-Oh! “Seeker-Driven Ministry a Mistake?!?!?”
For years, I have said that the modern church-growth movement (and the not-as-modern church-growth movement) were built on a false foundation of pragmatic gimmickry and unsound philosophy. Whether it was packing kids into buses with promises of goldfish and bubble gum or luring grown-ups to church with designer coffees and dramas, nothing replaces sound Bible preaching, systematic discipleship training and the Work of the Holy Spirit in growing authentic followers of Jesus Christ. Numbers do not equate genuine conversions and changed lives.
Now it seems that even the founders and leaders of one of the most massive branches of the CGM — the Willow Creek Association — are admitting that their methods of fail to produce authentic followers of Christ.
Here’s a small quote from the article….
“Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.”If you simply want a crowd, the “seeker-sensitive” model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it’s a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:“We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ’self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their Bible between services, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own.”
If you want to read the whole article, click HERE.
