60 Seconds of Pastoral Pondering

A blog for pastors

The Lord knows how hard we’ve worked to make it happen.

We have prayed, strategized, connived and manipulated to make the church and its programs ‘seeker sensitive.’ The service has been shortened…the message simplified …we attempt to include at least one song from each of the 27 different genres of music represented by the varied tastes of the masses…we’ve softened the seats, served designer coffee and pasted the biggest smiles on our most outgoing greeters.

But alas, as a general rule, the non-believers stay away by the hordes…failing to fill our buildings and help usher in the move of God that we are looking for.

I’ve got an idea. Instead of making the church ‘seeker sensitive’ let’s work on making the Christians ‘seeker sensitive.’ Since the general population won’t check out the church, the individual Christian is the only part of the Gospel that they’re likely to encounter.

So why not spend some of the time, money and energy that we now put into the building and its programs, into turning out authentic, powerful and persuasive people who have been filled with the love of God and are genuinely excited about their relationship with Him! Being excited about church has had limited success in evangelism…but  being excited about the relationship we have with Jesus might just be the message that my world is waiting to hear.

Being invited to a ‘seeker sensitive’ church by a ‘seeker insensitive believer’  won’t get the job done. What this world awaits is an infestation of Jesus followers who represent Him with the kind of love, compassion, and acts of mercy that He showed. Our culture watches for and fervently desires someone who will listen to the story of their hearts and then point them to the Savior.

Our churches are filled with awesome evangelists. Get them ready and then turn them loose!