Untenable Fact - Men Seek God

While it is clear to me that Adam and Eve did everything they could to avoid God, why is there this over-riding notion in the Church today to the contrary?  One need not be a raging Calvinist to see that God is the one doing the seeking.  One need not be a 5 1/2 point Calvinist to see that mankind does not seek God out, but rather hides in shame from God. 
Luke 19:10 - For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Who's seeking who here?)
Luke 19:47 - And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him.  (Seeking to kill Christ)
John 6:26 - Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  (Jesus chides those who were seeking to have their felt needs met)
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 

(Who's choosing/seeking who here?)

The text seems to point out the fact that man is not doing the seeking.  God is doing the seeking.  In Genesis 3, what do we have?  God is walking in the garden and what is the question that he asks?  "Where are you?"  Who is doing the seeking?  God is doing the seeking.  He was seeking those who were not seeking him. 

One of my favorite stories as a kid was the story of the Tax Collector - Zacchaeus.  I loved the song. 

Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. 
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. 
And as the Savior passed his way he looked up in the tree,
and he said, "Zacchaeus you come down for I'm going to your house today...ay..ay..ay,
for I'm going to your house today! 

My Dad and I had the opportunity a few years ago to see Alistair Begg in person in Colleyville.  He preached the text out of Luke 19.  I remember the sermon vividly even after 4 or 5 years.  I want to look at the text and then pass on a few comments from Alistair. 

He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature.

Alistair pointed out that many here will say, "See Zacchaeus was seeking Jesus.  Rubbish!"  He was trying to figure out who this guy was.  There was a guy who was healing people, doing cool stuff, and the little man wanted to see who he was.  As Luke points out, he couldn't see Jesus.  He was little in stature and in more ways than one.  He was the stuff of legends.  He was a swindler by his own confession in verse 8.  He was the worst kind of sinner.  He cheated his own people on behalf of the Roman occupation.  He was a wretch.

4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

Alistair pointed out here you have a large crowd following Jesus, with many people admiring him and pawning after him.  Some may have wanted food, some maybe healing, some may have been just curious.  But you have this large crowd following Jesus and it just so happens that Zacchaeus trying to get a good look, jumps up into a sycamore tree, and wouldn't you know it, the Lord Jesus Himself came to that very place where the tree was.  Amazing!  It's as if Zacchaeus was the luckiest man on earth to get a great seat, or was it that Jesus had scheduled a divine appointment?  Notice how Jesus called Zacchaeus by name.  Zacchaeus didn't know Jesus, and by all accounts, Jesus had never met Zacchaeus, but here He was calling him by name. 

6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Here you have Jesus' critics mad at Jesus for associating himself with such a person as Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus confesses his sins and repents.  Then amazingly Jesus tells him, who it is who has come to do the seeking.  “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

At this point in the sermon, Alistair paused and said, "Who is seeking who here?" 

So what do you say?  If you say God does the seeking, then your ministry should reflect that.  It won't cater to needs that they can't meet any way. It won't cater to the whims of culture and creativity.  It won't cater to postmodern methods.  It will preach, teach and show all men that God is the only seeker of men, and he in fact does seek to save those who are lost!

Gage Browning

Post Tenebras Lux

Bill Hybels recently admitted that his "seeker" model of ministry hasn't worked.  He recently said in an interview "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."  (Click here to read the whole article)

Hybels admission came as somewhat of a shock.  One of my friends, John Chitty who runs the blog Captain Headknowledge said, "Yes, I submit that Bill Hybels’ mia culpa is an example of a blind leader falling into a ditch. Up on the narrow road, were God to graciously grant him reformation, lies a neglected Bible, preached from a neglected pulpit, signified and sealed by neglected sacraments. The answer to seeker-sensitive demographic polling is what the Reformed call, “The Ministry of Word and Sacrament.” 

I understand the setiment of my friend, the Captain of all Headknowledge.  However, I don't want to focus on how Hybels is still wrong.  I would rather want to focus on the disease, and not the symptom.  I don't want to focus on what a Pastor should do, whether to teach people to "self-feed", or to simply "feed the sheep".  That's not what I want to focus on.  What I want to focus on is this:  The underlying problem with the Seeker Sensitive Model for doing ministry is:  Not understanding the falleness of man and the utter graciousness of God. 

I want to focus on Genesis Chapter 3: 7-10.  It's what came to mind while thinking of what Hybels said.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Untenable Fact - Meeting Felt needs as a means for Church growth

So Adam and Eve had fallen, and they were naked, ashamed and hiding.  The fall had taken place in the best of environments.  The Lord was walking in the cool of the day.  It was a pleasant place to be.  There was plenty of food.  There was water, intimacy between man and wife, and a perfect intimate relationship with God Himself.  They had every need (real, felt, you name it) met.  They had no needs, other than maybe the need to be like God Himself.  What else could God have offered them?  He offered them everything.  Eternal bliss between husband, wife and with all creation and yet they fell.  They fell and the environment which God created was not good enough.  Their needs, which were all met by the hand of God did not satisfy them.  They fell despite having their felt needs met in spades.  But that was not enough for them.  I dare say that would not be enough for any of us.  So it seems to me that the pervading notion in the Seeker model is untenable in light of Adam, our infamous Federal Head.  The one who represents all of us, was not satisfied with his felt needs being met.  The meeting of felt needs will never be enough.  Surely someone will say, shouldn't the Church meet needs?  Yes!  Absolutely yes and Amen.  The work of the Church is partly to meet the needs of saints.  But Felt needs...no.  Men feel they need things that maybe Church can provide.  The ideas behind seeker models of ministry bear this out.  Men and women want healthy marriages, so we should preach on marriage.  Men and women want to know how to raise kids in our culture, so we preach on that.  One of the best examples of this model is Fellowship Church.  Ed Young Jr. is the Pastor of the Mega Church in Grapevine Texas.  He has a ministry called "Creative Pastors" where you can buy sermon outlines etc...  Here is the pitch for those who parouse his website. 

 Looking for a way to tackle giving that puts people at ease? A fresh take on marriage and family issues? A creative series to launch the fall season? Pastor's Kits are designed to support you as you craft your messages. With tools including transcripts, MP3s, message outlines, mind maps and worship maps/service outlines, these resources are useful for adding a new dimension to the topics you've sketched out, providing help with introductions and transitions or starting a series from scratch.

When you read some of the series that he offers, you see the typical, marriage, children, finances topics.  To be sure these are fine topics which many today see as a need that they need to fill in their lives.  It is truly a need that is felt.  But is it their real need?  Adam and Eve had no needs, and yet they were not fulfilled.  They wanted more.  They wanted sin!  Man is never going to be satisfied, and mans felt need may be in conflict with Gods desires. 

Regardless, the notion of meeting needs to build a church is a notion on shaky ground.  The Lord had created an environment that was the best of all environments.  The Lord Himself had a church of two with no needs of any kind and yet they sinned, they hid, and the kicker you ask?  They did not seek God.  They Hid themselves from God!  God is the one who sought them.  "Where are you?" he asked.  If there ever was two people who needed to seek God it was Adam and Eve but they did not seek God, they hid.  Sinful man is not inclined to seek God.  They are inclined to hide from Him in their shame.  There is only one seeker and you and I aren't Him.

Gage Browning

Post Tenebras Lux

My family met with the Session of Grace Community Presbyterian Church on Sunday after worship.  We did so to share our testimonies, and be interviewed for membership.  We have visited Grace since January.  My wife and I have sat through similar meetings before to join a Church.  However, my 8 year old daughter Lexi, had never had such an experience.  She wanted to take Communion, but since she had not been a communing member of a Church yet, she was not allowed to take Communion.  In preparation for our meeting, I had talked to my daughter to discuss with her salvation, communion and membership.  It was a sweet time for me, to see my daughter explain in her words  how Jesus was punished for her, and how she was trusting Him to save her.  Then I got to see a nervous little 8 year old girl, (my darling daughter) explain to a group of Elders how she doesn't remember not being a Christian.  She told them, "I have always loved Jesus".  She is now so excited to get to participate in the Supper.  Seeing her excited to participate in the Sacrament actually slammed me a little.  Why don't I always have that attitude?  One of the things that my Pastor asked her was, "What does the bread and wine mean?"  She said, "Well the bread is the body and the wine is the blood and that reminds us that Jesus died for us, and He loves us very much."  I was so thankful that God has done a work in her heart, it was hard not to cry.  Now we both are excited to participate in the body and blood of Christ, and I'm going to work on keeping that attitude, the attitude of my precious little 8 year old who reminded me that our God is a Covenant Keeping God.

Gage Browning

Post Tenebras Lux

 Gage Browning

 Post Tenebras Lux

I never considered myself to be naïve. I understood the doctrine of Total Depravity, and I understood it in an experiential way. I knew my own heart, my own sin, and I had seen plenty of sin from other brothers and sisters in my time. But I always thought that if I were surrounded by “Reformed” men and women, with a “Scriptural” form of Church government, then I would be safe, in a safe environment. I thought I would be, as the Princess Bride puts it “mostly” safe. I was wrong. I was “mostly” wrong. I was naïve.

I have come to realize that even “Reformed” men and women need a Savior! I need a Savior! I have also learned that there is no hedge other than that of the Spirit, to protect me. However, if the Spirit sees fit in His providential care to make my hedge as sparse and weak as the weeds in my backyard, then that is His pleasure, and I am okay with that. If He sees fit to allow, (no not allow- sounds Arminian) but rather if He sees fit to execute His divine will upon the earth, and that happens to scorch my bald head then all praise and glory be to Him who is on the throne. In the middle of Divine, and sometimes frowning providence we who are image bearers must also learn a thing or two from time to time. One of the things I have learned is this: Jesus is Lord, and I am not. Jesus is working out his plan and He doesn’t usually ask me if I am okay with the result. He also has my good and His glory in mind, and I usually won’t understand how that works. There will always be sin in the Church. There will always be fighting in the Church. There will always be these things, because there will always be people like me in the Church. As long as there are people in the Church, there will always be injustice, fighting, hurt, and strife. I know that now.

Life in the Church is sometimes hard. However, frowning providence is never as bad as it seems. I recently read of the trials of the underground Church in China, and it made me sick to my stomach to know that my brothers and sisters in China are persecuted as they are. It also made me realize that I am a spec on the map of history. The smallness of my life and my impact on the Church is transcended by the experiences of many today and by the countless thousands throughout history. I understand that now, “mostly”. But with all that said, I now have a wide eyed view of the Church, its government, its people, and my own heart. I am wide awake in the Church now.

Gage Browning

Post Tenebras Lux