You might remember a church fad a few years back called "seeker-sensitive churches." These churches would pay special attention to the needs and desires of people who were seeking Jesus. Many of them grew very quickly and grew very large. (Willow Creek in Chicago seems to be the "poster-child" church for this movement...) Whatever your opinion of this movement (personally, I see both pro's and con's, although I wouldn't put myself in this group), that's not my point.
It was just a jumping off thought for me as I thought about what churches SHOULD be sensitive towards. Then I had the realization that the one common denominator among all of the people we serve (and me, and you, and our families, and all people) is that we are sinners. All of us have a certain set of needs, and the church needs to be sensitive to these needs.
Now, before you begin to freak out and are tempted to either stop reading or suddenly leave me nasty comments (although nasty is better than nothing, I suppose...), please hear me out. Here are some of the needs I see of sinners:
- we don't know reality. We live in a little world where we are at the center, where we are okay, in control, and the rest of the world is crazy. We need to be told that there is a Creator who is in charge. We need to hear that there is a Judge who decides what's right (and we're not Him). We need to hear that this Righteous One is also the God of Steadfast Love who never leaves us or forsakes us, but came and gave His Life so we could be with Him.
- we don't know ourselves. We really, truly, think we're okay on some level. Sure, there might be things we want to change (out there in the world), but often, we are content to keep chasing the death-bringing things we love and hate and love. We need to be shown ourselves for what we are. We need illustrations of truth - not just lectures - that bring the words of God into our souls through the windows of stories that put us in the middle of the truth. Jesus would suck His audience in with an engaging story and then hang them on the hooks of their own judgement (see Luke 15 for a great instance of this). We need engaging truth from Scripture that breaks into our worlds.
- we are all broken, and there is one Judge who is also the Justifier. We can't be preaching just hellfire and damnation. We can't be preaching just "Kum-bay-yah," either. Sinners need to hear good news of life. We need to hear the truth about the coming judgement and why our lives are so broken. We need to hear the hope about the Savior who is coming to fix it all and has died and risen to make us new, to make us God's. We need to hold these truths out to a broken city, beggars-now-sons holding out His grace to other beggars who don't even know for what they're searching. We can't turn anyone away at the door, but we can't let our neighbors wallow in their self-destructive sin, either. As we build relationships, we engage with grace and truth as Jesus leads us.
- even pastors are sinners who must follow Jesus. The only rock star in church is the Savior who's the center of all our praise. Praise Jesus, not the preacher; the preacher/pastor/counselor/prayer counselor/children's ministry leader/small group leader/(you get the point?) is just a tool in Jesus' hands. Jesus is working the masterpiece. He's building the body and making it grow. All of us must be dependent on Him. We all need to be open about our sin, quick to confess and repent as the Lord convicts; quick to forgive each other and give grace; and quick to love the hurting and broken, comforting as we've been comforted.
That's just a beginning, and there isn't any set order in the list above. But I'm hoping that we can keep mulling over these ideas and that the core idea of a "gospel-centered church" might take on new meaning and that the good news of Jesus (and Jesus Himself) might truly be the center of all that we do.
Keep me honest; call me out on errors you see.
Grace to you in our Lord and by His Spirit.
Press on to know Him more and to make Him known.
Amen.
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