Seeker-sensitive churches tend to grow bland after awhile. The novelities lose their novelty, and it is difficult to sustain the energy and emotional ‘high’ that these congregations offer initially. Very few offer substantive help for a deeper walk, can offer much in the way of real comfort during rough times. Oddly–I have attended churches of this sort which have a great many members who have been through bad experiences–divorces, abuse, substance addition, prison, etcetera. In the context of these sorts of churches however one often feels obliged to act as if God is the Gread Band-Aid in the Sky Who Makes Everything Right. My sense is that seeker-sensitive churches too often offer trite or hollow answers which quickly get ragged around the edges.
In their favor: seeker-sensitive churches do offer to people who would otherwise go to church nowhere a place and a language with which to begin to worship God. Bland food is better than junk food or no food at all, which is the equivalent of what many people would gravitate towards in the absence of seeker-sensitive churches. And it is not as if many seeker-sensitive churches are not aware of their own shortcomings. Some have begun offering better, more challenging Bible studies, alternate between ‘contemporary’ and ‘more-traditional’ worship services, encourage their membership to get involved in Christian service to the poor, elderly, imprisoned, etcetera. I suspect however that the ‘seeker-sensitive’ movement will die away much like some other fads, and their membership will either drift back into inactivity or move towards more mainstream churches.
, merry christmas,