Seeker Sensitive (Part 2)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the apostle

Paul said, but we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is

Mike Abendroth. We wanna stand up for God's truth, which means inevitably we will have to stand against error.

And so sometimes I talk about positive things. What does the Bible say about assurance? What does the Bible say about sanctification?

What does the Bible say about the scriptures? What does the Bible say about Christ and his death and his life? What, who is

Jesus Christ? But other times we have to look at things through the lens of scripture, and we do that in what would be called maybe a negative fashion.

There are people today, many people today, who will say, well, we wanna be known for what we're for.

We don't talk about the negative things. You preach the truth, and the people can figure out what's wrong and what's right.

That's fine. That's fine if your religion is called Juli -ism, and your name's

Julie, and you say, well, this is what I like, this is what I don't like. But Christian ministers are bound to do what the scriptures say, and Titus chapter one is clear.

We teach sound doctrine. We refute those who contradict. And we as pastors, as shepherds, as elders, as overseers, we wanna watch out for people and warn them.

And when there are attacks on the church, then you need to have heralds and watchmen who will stand up and say, no, think about it from a different perspective.

And it goes without saying that if we are right, we are only right by the grace of God.

It's not a matter of education, insight, theological acumen.

It is all the grace of God. What do we have that we have not received?

The answer is nothing. So you say, well, I don't like this kind of critique, contending earnestly for the faith once delivered.

Well, there's all kinds of things I don't like, and I don't really like it either. I wish I could just teach about the glories of Christ and everything else would work out.

But this is not Mike -ism, this is Christianity. And so we have a leader. We have one who has purchased the church with his own blood.

Therefore, we do what he says. If we don't do what he says, we should either change religions or we should get ready for God's chastening hand.

So everywhere you look, you see Jesus, Paul, James.

They teach truth and they take those things that are, those errors, and they refute them.

And if people are having the errors, they refute the people that have the errors. So we're talking about seeker -sensitive churches, churches that we discussed in some great length, who say, we want to win people over and we'll have the customer in mind, we'll be consumeristic, and we'll say, we want to tilt everything towards not what will glorify

God, although that would be a nice extra, but what can get the people in. So they have the wrong focus, the wrong telos, the wrong goal, the wrong ultimate priority.

But there's more that we could say about seeker -sensitive churches. And so let me tell you about something else that seeker -sensitive churches do that probably stem from number one.

So maybe I don't really have any points today. Seeker -sensitive churches minimize doctrine and anything that's offensive.

Remember, there is a thrice -holy Lord, and He is holy, holy, holy.

And fortunately, you've got this holy God and you've got the first commandment of seeker -friendly churches, and that is, thou shall not step on anyone's toes.

And for me, I don't want to step on God's holy toes, as it were. I'm not going to step on His, the holy ground.

I am a steward, I'm an ambassador. And if you're in a church that says, how can we change what

God says to win the lost, you've got to right that ship. If you're not in leadership, there's not much you could do.

You might want to read a thing on the internet by Robert Godfrey called the myth of influence. But back to this idea about minimizing doctrine and things that are offensive.

I said last time, you can do the old bait and switch if you'd like, but eventually you're going to have to talk about things that are in the

Bible that are fairly provoking, fairly controversial, ultimately controversial, whether it's killing villages full of men and women and children, having

Ananias and Sapphira struck dead, Nadab and Abihu, Uzzah and the

Ark. There's all kinds of things that punctuate the Bible, both Old and New Testament. The flood, how about the flood?

Devil, not the devil, I was going to say the hell made for the devils that people end up going to.

We want to do things according to Scripture, that's all. And so we want to please

God, forget the results. Tozer said the new cross does not slay the sinner, it directs him. It redirects him, it gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self -respect.

To the self -assertive it says, come and assert yourself for Christ. To the egotist it says, come and do your boasting in the

Lord. To the thrill seeker it says, come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.

The Christian's message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public, end quote.

That is exactly right. The cross is offensive, we talked about that in 1 Corinthians 1 last time.

Peter says it this way in chapter two verse eight, the cross is a stone of stumbling and a rock of what?

Offense, for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed.

Even that verse talking about the scandal of the cross, this snare, this occasion to fall, this trap stick, it is offensive,

Jesus Christ's cross. It basically says to the sinner, your life is counted for less than zero, it is counted for negative.

Grace is not unmerited favor, it's demerited favor as Sinclair Ferguson would say.

And even in this verse here, why do they stumble? Because they're disobedient and they're appointed. You see the responsibility of man and then you see the eternal decree of God and you see the reprobation of God.

And these are very difficult concepts but the preacher needs to preach what God has told in his word, not what the people want to hear.

And people don't, especially immature people and especially, especially unbelievers, they don't wanna hear offensive terminology.

They don't wanna hear about the sinfulness of sin, as Ralph Venning calls it, or the holiness of God.

Truths from the scriptures often offend but how to sermons, they don't offend.

Marriage seminars, sermons, they don't offend. Oh, maybe the husband feels a little uncomfortable because he's not transparent enough in his relationship.

But the doctrine of sin cannot be minimized, that will offend people. Romans 1, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them.

Are we really afraid of alienating the Gen X, the baby boomers, and somehow we sit there with a market -based technique that says to the culture and says to the church, well, this is our premeditated plan to try to win these people.

No, the best thing you could do is just preach the Bible verse by verse by verse by verse. If you're a pastor, hide behind that and then you will be set.

You could ask yourself this question with seeker -sensitive churches, what's the goal? Is the goal a full church?

Is the goal a lot of money? Is the goal having a larger influence in the community? Or is the goal the glory of God?

Is the purpose of mankind to bring glory to God? Will God share his glory with another?

Is God glorified through obedience? We know the answers to these questions.

So now does your church methodology match up to that? Who cares about popularity?

Who cares about numbers? Who cares about any of that if you have a single -minded devotion to the

Lord and you want to do God's business God's way? This statement from Cambridge Declaration is insightful.

The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin and is the standard by which all

Christian behavior must be measured. And I'd go further to say that the standard of all

Christian behavior that it should be measured is found in the Bible, including the success, quote unquote, or failure, quote unquote, of the church.

Means, motives, method, and message are all important unto the

Lord. Are numbers everything? Well, you don't have to read your Bible very long to figure out that numbers aren't everything.

They're not showing strength. They're not showing victory. I think of Judges chapter seven.

It's Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry here on WVNE 760, flagship station here in Worcester.

Actually, it's not in Auburn. I thought it was, but it's in Worcester. Judges 7 -2, and the Lord Yahweh said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for me to give

Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, my own power has delivered me.

And so you know the scoop there. You know what happens with Gideon and the Lord. Judges 7 -12 goes on to say, now the

Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts, and their camels were without number as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

God had a certain way to show Gideon that strength is found not in numbers, not in buildings, not in cash.

It's found in God and knowing God. That's where we find these things.

Did you know Bill Hull, in his book, Is the Church Growth Movement Really Working?, says the fact is 90 % of the churches in America have 200 or fewer worshipers.

That's insightful. We live in the mega -church world, yet I personally don't want to hear from God later, well -done, good, market -driven servant.

No, we want to be men and women of integrity, of fidelity, of commitment.

We should be concerned about the depth of ministry, not the breadth of it. That is the Lord's prerogative to give either a large scope or no scope.

Titus 1 .9, holding fast the faithful word, that's what elders are to do, which is in accordance with the teaching.

That's what elders must do. Things that we've heard from other people, we entrust to faithful men who will teach to others.

God judges the ministry for faithfulness, not numbers. I will not get to heaven and have the

Bema seat, 2 Corinthians 5 .10 judgment, be for anything less than fidelity, faithfulness.

And what I've done in the body, they're good or worthless. It's not going to be, I didn't get enough people into the church jamming some unbiblical church growth method that bolsters my pride and proves my ignorance and lack of faith in the

Lord and his word. I'm not going to get judged for those things. The honor of the Lord is at stake.

People say, well, this is unloving. Well, it's unloving to disobey God and do things with his pride the way you're not supposed to do them.

John Seale said, mega church leaders present in presently enjoy enormous esteem and visibility within evangelicalism.

Often supplemented with media ministries, these pastors are best -selling authors, frequent conference speakers, and are seen as authorities for negotiating cultural change.

That is true. To their shame, to their shame, the goal is the glory of God, not media ministries.

Well, what else is wrong with seeker -sensitive movements? One of the things that's very wrong, that's implicit in what

I've said so far, but now I make explicit, is that they're inevitably pragmatic.

For them, it's not a matter of, is God glorified through the exaltation of Christ through the word of God and worship that's

Christ -centered? Their question for the ages is, does it work? Does it work?

Is there something practical that comes about? Some kind of consequence that works. And if it works, it's right.

If it doesn't work, it must be wrong. This comes straight out of the philosopher William James and from the famous educator

John Dewey. And everybody's into this seemingly today.

Years ago, Rick Warren said, explosive growth occurs when the type of people in the community match the type of people that are already in the church, and they both match the type of person the pastor is.

That is not correct. That is an error. We are not trying to match all these people up.

When you take the telescope and flip it around, you see things wrongly. And you see the person magnified and not the

Lord Jesus Christ magnified. It is never the issue, does it work?

Oh, giving's up God's blessing. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is not the way it works in God's economy.

Crowds, numbers, oh, I got all these people at the church. See, God is blessing. See your small little church.

As the people say, those who marry the science of today are widowers tomorrow. The issue is, and the issue always is, will you grow the church the way

God wants it grown? And that is to say, of course, ultimate growth is only from the Lord, but will you do what

God has called you to do? God has means and he has ends, and the means to the end of growth is the faithful proclamation of the word of God.

If you're a pastor and you're into this, I say to you, as an under shepherd of the Lord, why will you not follow the master in growing his church his way?

He doesn't need help. He doesn't need some kind of techniques for church growth. Actually, the scriptures say in Jeremiah 17, cursed is the man who trust in mankind and makes flesh his strength and whose heart turns away from the

Lord. I'm not saying everybody who does secret sensitive movement is cursed. I am saying this, in Jeremiah 17, you see the difference between someone who trusts in the

Lord and his ways versus someone who doesn't. Verse six, for he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony waste in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.

On the contrary, verse seven, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the

Lord, for he will be like a tree planted by the water that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes, but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.

The heart is more deceitful above all else and is desperately wicked. Who can understand it?

Yeah, yeah, I want to do things this way. I want to take a census. And David says, yeah, that's good.

That's real good. See, God takes care of the growth. God takes care of the numbers who comes in the kingdom.

He takes care of the maturation. That is his sovereign choice. That is his prerogative alone.

I have a question for you. Was John the Baptist pragmatic? Was Isaiah a pragmatist?

Was Jesus a pragmatist? Was he a marketer? Well, let's see,

I'm gonna be consumer -driven. How can I get these people to follow me? When they're shouting out in John 6, we want a king, we want a king.

Jesus knew in his heart, he knew that they were perceiving to make him a king by force, withdraws himself and then goes to the mountain to pray by himself alone.

And when they come running to Jesus, we want some food. What does he do? Oh yeah,

I think I can do this kind of market -driven approach and then feed them. And then I think they'll buy my message later.

And Jesus says, I know what you want, but I'm not gonna give it to you. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the

Son of Man shall give you. For on him, the Father, even God has set his seal.

When George Barna says in Mark in the church, page 50, Jesus Christ was a communications specialist.

He communicated his message in diverse ways and with results that would be a credit to modern advertising and marketing agencies.

Notice the Lord's approach. He identified his target audience, determined their need, delivered his message directly to them.

I might add, it's Mike Abendross edition, four Ps of marketing, product, place, price, promotion.

I think those were the four Ps if I remember right. Back to Barna, by addressing the crowds on the mountainsides, are the

Jews in the temple? He promoted his product in the most efficient way possible by communicating with the hot prospects, end quote, on NAV depressed publishers.

It just doesn't, how can you make this stuff up? Hey, Jesus, we want you to do something.

Now, we wanna do something. And he says, what shall we do that we may, they say, what shall we do that we may work the works of God?

And Jesus said, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. Yeah, yeah, but Jesus, yeah, we want a miracle.

We want a sign. You know, it's one thing to give some food once in a while to some 5 ,000 men and the children that are around and women but, you know, that's no big deal.

Moses fed us in John 6, 31. You know, our fathers ate manna in the wilderness.

That's 14 ,600 days of over 40 years. And you fed us one meal.

That's not really that big a deal. And Jesus goes on to correct them and he says, I am the bread of life.

He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. Jesus was not a pragmatist.

Jesus gave them hard sayings. Jesus turned them away when they were so focused on self and sin and self -righteousness.

Oh, we don't want any hard sayings from the pulpit. That might offend people. Well, Jesus was an expert, not a marketing expert but an expert in offending people and putting his proverbial finger right where the sore was.

And the sore was sinful self -righteousness. And Jesus said, your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.

Yeah, a lot of good that's gonna do them. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven so that one may eat of it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever.

And the bread also which I give for the life of the world is my flesh.

And now they begin to freak out and quarrel and fight. He's gonna give us something to eat, some kind of meat with the blood in it, some kind of cannibalism.

And they were having some kind of conniption fit. John 6, 60, many therefore as disciples when they heard this said, this is a difficult statement.

Who can listen to it? Where are the secret sensitive churches that teach through all the Bible that is full of certainly comfort, certainly warmth, certainly understanding that the

God of the universe has expressed his love to us. But there are difficult sayings. Jesus, that's a hard saying.

When's the last time your pastor preached a sermon and you sat there and thought, man, that was really hard. Well, he's not preaching like Jesus unless that happens on occasion.

Probably should happen more than it does, but it's gotta happen some. It's never right when sinful, finite, created man says, this is what

I want and you better do it or else. That's just idolatry. That's just making God as some kind of AAA guy.

What's the AAA guy called in his little car, his truck that comes over and is his pickup truck?

I don't even, I have no idea. That's why I'm not, I don't work for anybody else except I'm in the Bible business. Bible minister, because I can't figure out what they call these people.

These tow trucks, that's right. You know, and they're really nice and they help you when you call them. That's all they think

Jesus is today. No, we don't wanna have some kind of pragmatic approach, which makes us not want to market the church.

The church is a her, not an it. You don't market your bride. No, listen to Barna.

The major problem plaguing the church is its failure to embrace a marketing orientation in what has become a market -driven environment.

That's the biggest problem? I thought probably sin was the biggest problem. A lack of obedience was a problem.

Having a marketing specialist was probably the problem. Reading books like marketing the church was the problem.

You can't mess around with the message and still keep the methods pure.

You just can't do that. I say you read again 1 Corinthians 1, verse 17.

How do I put the spin on this? If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, if you'll be willing to hate your life, you better hate your own life, sinful life, self -righteous life, or else you cannot be my disciple.

How do we market that? How do we spin that? James Boyce described people today, even though it was years ago before he died, instead of me finding fitting religion,

I found a religion to fit me. And so it's this shopping mall. It's this tourist kind of thing.

I think I'll go to this place. I think I'll go to that place. And by the way, I hope the entertainment's really good because I want dumbed down entertainment.

That's what I want. Well, I never put together a worship service based on what immature, unbelieving people, immature or unbelieving, or unbelieving, immature people, or immature, believing, unbelieving people want.

This is what the Lord desires. And he wants the scripture to be read. He wants the

Lord's supper, communion, preaching, prayer, singing, those kinds of things that are prescribed in the scripture.

That's what we're going to do. When it comes to the definition of a local church, it's Jesus's definition that I want to go for.

The audience is not sovereign. The customer is not always right, although in churches that seems to be the case today.

That's why Rick Warren says, keep your pastoral prayer short in your seeker services. The unchurched can't handle long prayers. You know what that makes me want to do?

Pray longer, because we don't put together worship services for the unbelievers. That's a whole show in and of itself.

Worship services are for believers because unbelievers don't worship, they blaspheme.

An unbeliever cannot worship the God of the universe because he cannot have access to Him.

He has no mediator, Christ Jesus. He has no righteousness of his own to approach the

Lord God, the Holy God. No, seekers don't worship, seekers blaspheme. So since believers worship, let's put together worship services for believers.

My name is Mike Ebendroth. We've been talking about seeker -sensitive churches and growth of churches, church growth paradigms.

What if we do this? What if we do that? How about let's teach Christ crucified every week? If you've got a pastor who does, thank him.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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