Seeker Sensitive Equals Stunted Growth
by Motte Brown on 10/31/2007 at 4:01 PM
Townhall.com's Bob Burney reported yesterday on a multi-year study of the programs and "seeker sensitive" philosophy of ministry of mega church Willow Creek Community. And the results aren't good for churches that replaced "sin, salvation and sanctification" with "Starbucks, strategy and sensitivity."
The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. [Senior Pastor Bill] Hybels laments:
"Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."
If you simply want a crowd, the "seeker sensitive" model produces results. If you want solid, sincere, mature followers of Christ, it's a bust. In a shocking confession, Hybels states:
"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."
You have to give Pastor Hybels credit for owning this disaster. Burney reports that he called the findings "earth shaking," "ground breaking" and "mind blowing." Such humility is encouraging but as Burney points out, the damage has already been done.
... the error of the seeker sensitive movement is monumental in its scope. The foundation of thousands of American churches is now discovered to be mere sand. The one individual who has had perhaps the greatest influence on the American church in our generation has now admitted his philosophy of ministry, in large part, was a "mistake." The extent of this error defies measurement.
Last year I attended Willow Creek's The Leadership Summit at a satellite location. The tag line read, "70,000 Leaders. 160 Cities. 1 Worldwide Event." I wonder how many of the 70,000 are now asking for their money back.
1. Geoff Matheson said the following at 4:07 PM on Oct 31:
Why? Because they got things wrong? I'm not a Willow Creek devotee (I don't think I've ever read any of Hybels' books), but one thing's for sure, I would much rather hear from a leader who had the courage and honesty to say: "This is what we've been doing wrong" than the status quo of leadership which continues down a path of doing the same things they've always done them, in spite of evidence to the contrary.
2. tom said the following at 4:11 PM on Oct 31:
I attended Willow Creek for a while when I lived in the Chicago area. (That was back before they needed satellite parking and shuttle buses to accommodate all the cars. Today you need to remember if you parked in Mickey, Goofy, Donald ...) We stopped attending after about six months, feeling starved for deep teaching and biblical discipleship. And that was 20-plus years ago. They went even deeper in the seeker-sensitive swamp after that.
3. Louise said the following at 5:20 PM on Oct 31:
Interesting.
A few years ago I attended Willow Creek's divorce recovery program.
It didn't help much...I had nice people in my group but all they did was talk about their kids.
Probably would have been the same at another church though.
4. Tami said the following at 5:28 PM on Oct 31:
All due respect, Motte, but wouldn't someone know what they'd be getting from a Willow Creek seminar in the first place? Meaning, they'd be purposefully going with the knowledge that they'd hear about seeker-sensitive strategies, and that's what the Willow Creek brand is all about. So there'd be no real justification for a refund. I can't go to McDonald's and return my food because I didn't get a Gordita.
Not saying all the WC stuff is horrible. Lee Strobel's books are really good, and their materials on spiritual gifts are good too. Just that when I hear "Willow Creek," I think "seeker stuff."
If I was in that spot, and was really looking for training in discipleship and/or the spiritual disciplines, I would've headed towards the Navigators or Renovare, which are more readily recognized for those ministries.
Shame we have to reduce this down to "brands," but that's how it seems to go in America these days...
5. Ame said the following at 5:46 PM on Oct 31:
I am not surprised at the findings ... they're what I've experienced, too. They've put in place this system and are surprised when it doesn't work ... and the few times it does work they interview the people and put them up on the big screen. It shouldn't take a year or two to find a Sunday school/Bible study class.
Also, it's where you don't even need a Bible in church anymore.
They offer all these programs, but the programs do not produce depth of intimacy with God.
The church I went to did everything for you ... all you had to do was walk in the door. If you taught in children's Bible study, you hardly had to prepare a thing ... it was all done for you. My kids became frustrated because there was no continuity in their teachers ... no personal relationship. And the children's area became so huge it was impossible to be personal with any of them.
The adult Bible study became very uniform and shallow ... I guess to attract teachers who didn't have time to study.
The sad part, though, are all the people who came in the doors hurting and left hurting even more. I sat in church one night and saw a woman with her two children ... she was obviously in need of God and not a "typical" church-goer. I tried to get across to greet her, but she got out before I could find her. As I watched her, no one talked to her. I started crying, and my Bible study teacher asked me what was wrong. I told him, and he looked at me with a blank stare. The woman and her two children didn't matter to him.
I know this is not isolated to a seeker, mega church, but it seemed to be very prevalent while I was there. I continue to hear stories of people being plugged into their system, falling on some rough ground, and the system disintegrating around them. It's very sad, I think.
You can't blame the church for everything, but it's nice when someone stands up and takes responsibility for what didn't work and even laments over it.
It will be interesting to see where it all goes from here.
6. Ariana . said the following at 5:56 PM on Oct 31:
I think this story is cause to praise the Lord--not becuase of their mistake, but because a mentality that so many Christians for so long have been warning against as "bad Christianity" has been clearly shown for what it is. And even more cause for thankfulness is that Hybels recognizes it and will turn and go in another direction. WC's experience shows why it is so important for us to pray for other believers and for the church as a whole, since the Lord does hear and will guide His people down the right path. And since WC is already established, hopefully it will be able to use the presence and connections that it already has to begin preaching a word that will actually thousands upon thousands that are thirsty. That's my hope and prayer.
7. Tami said the following at 5:56 PM on Oct 31:
Ame, that's so sad, and unfortunately it seems typical when you're focused on "happy crowds" rather than personal ministry. :(
Jesus noticed the hurting in a huge crowd, and He ministered to them right away.
I will also be sad if discipleship becomes the Next Big Trendy Thing. Don't get me wrong -- discipleship is *mandatory* in the Body, and I would love to a resurgence of it in the church. But if it's discipleship this year, and some other program the next -- we're missing the point again.
8. Jon said the following at 6:41 PM on Oct 31:
Hang on Mott, this is rather shoddy journalism from you. Have you read the book that was co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins? Reveal: Where Are You?
Its very easy for someone to pick and choose quotes from a book and end up with your own agenda. Is the conclusion that Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins come to the same as Bob Burney's ?
I live in the UK and have never attended Willow Creek. However, I did attend the Leadership summit at one of the satellite summit this year and the purpose of GLS clearly seems to have escaped you. I might not attend Willow Creek because "sin, salvation and sanctification" is not taught. However this is in no way related to the Global Leadership Summit where the whole point is that you can gain leadership insights even from those outside the church.
Whether you like it or not, some of the best leaders and strategists are outside the church.
9. Chrysti said the following at 8:55 PM on Oct 31:
I agree with the findings that you have given. For a long time, I've been against "Seeker-Sensitive" ministries for that very reason. Everything gets to be so dumbed down that it's hardly even the "milk" Paul says new believers need to be nourished.
I go to a fairly good sized church (approx. 1,200 people every week). And we don't have a "seeker-sensitive" ministry. Yet, our church body keeps growing so there must be spiritual growth happening, even though it may seem like we don't have services to attract certain audiences.
10. Motte said the following at 8:56 PM on Oct 31:
No, Jon. I haven't read the book. That's why I mainly excerpted quotes from Hybels himself about the findings.
As for the Leadership Summit, make no mistake, it was a Hybels event with a strong church-growth-based-on-marketing-principles component. However, it was not entirely without merit. The sessions with Andy Stanley and "Good to Great" Jim Collins were very helpful.
11. Joseph said the following at 9:14 PM on Oct 31:
Is it really a waste? I think it is a bit much for the church leadership to attempt to take full fault at people's spiritual immaturity. Are they at fault, I think it is fair to admit a certain point. What valuable lesson has ever been learned without a cost though?
I recall reading Bill Hybel's book on leadership, being that it did not touch so much on ministry methods as much as what kinds of leadership and forms I still find it relevant. To say it was all a mistake might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Since the problem has been noted a solution can be developed. I tend to point towards North Coast Church as fair as a model of a working "mega church", whose focus is on the small groups throughout the week and not the Sunday church-o-rama.
12. Fred said the following at 10:26 PM on Oct 31:
God punished David for numbering the Israelites. Even though it's good to encourage strong discipleship in church and get away from just getting people into church are we still too focused on numbers (even faithful numbers)?
13. DannieA said the following at 10:27 PM on Oct 31:
while I don't particularly like mega-churches...I've always thought Hybels was a sincere guy. The quotes about him lamenting solidify this for me as well.
Let's not be too hasty to judge as I do believe Hybels was sincere in what he was trying to accomplish in the first place...
14. shawn said the following at 10:45 PM on Oct 31:
I think the last line of this post is a bit extreme. I would hate the same scrutiny that Hybels has received about his congregation to be leveled against mine. I appreciate a pioneer, especially one who's willing to go back to the drawing board (multiple times) and make things right.
Just a thought...
15. Ariana said the following at 12:04 AM on Nov 1:
Shawn said, "I appreciate a pioneer..." This isn't a direct response to his comment, but that made me ask, "Are some ministers mistakenly trying to do 'What's never been done'? or do it in a way that's "'Never been done before?'" Sometimes I get the impression that some Christians in ministries are trying to figure out that new *thing* that will do it, this method or that program that will draw people in. What Hybels and others probably overlooked is that there is no *thing* that will do it, there's no "trick" to the Gospel. The only things that the Holy Spirit requires are truth proclaimed and faith to believe. If these are present, He will move in awesome ways.
He really can do His work in this "postmodern" era without the comfy seats and professionally edited videos--those things make people more comfortable, but they are not what they are spiritually hungry for. Hearts will be converted the same way that they always have, by telling Jesus' story, and teaching them to bring their lives under His Lordship. That's the only thing that will ultimately fill. Sticking to the Gospel will lead to cultural originality, but trying to be original isn't going to lead to the Gospel.
16. Steve Charles said the following at 5:12 AM on Nov 1:
I have read the book (http://www.revealnow.com/) and I think we might be missing the point. Hybels sought to bring people outside the church into the kingdom. The same survey says they have been wildly successful at that. I praise the Lord that someone who has a heart for the lost has devoted tremendous time, energy and skills to winning the them to Jesus. They also discovered that they do a pretty good job at initial discipleship. It's just that when people wanted to really grow, move into deeper discipleship, they left that church. Hybles is honestly admitting they haven't been so good at deeper discipleship. My first thought was, "How good has MY church been at leading people to deeper discipleship?" And then, "What can I learn from a fellow church as they devote tremendous time, energy, and skills to figuring this out?"
17. Wendy said the following at 7:25 AM on Nov 1:
I was raised in a very cultish denomination. When I was in my early 20s, God saved me and showed me the truth. When I decided to leave my cultish church, I went straight to the Bible to find out what kind of church I should attend instead. I did my best to find one that mirrored the NT as closely as possible.
As a result of that, I am currently an active member of a church that meets in homes. When my roommate and I held services at our house, my pastor washed the dishes afterwards. Every now and then, he even came over and mowed our lawn. All of our members are so much a part of each other's lives that it's almost impossible for anything in our lives to remain a secret for long (within certain boundaries, of course). My church is more my family than my biological family. I have spiritually grown more in the past three years outside of institutional churches than during the 24 years I was an active member of my former church.
Why is it that when we want to know how to conduct "church" that we are so eager to follow man's wisdom? Why are we so reluctant in America today to look to the Bible and follow the apostolic pattern of simplicity? A lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of people's lives have been wasted because so many leaders in America today have been unwilling to do so.
18. Ken said the following at 8:06 AM on Nov 1:
I believe Louie Giglio put it best in his sermon, "Passion, Purpose and Designer Jeans".
"We're in the hug of God."
In that don't be afraid to make mistakes. That it's worse if we're not trying something.
For some reason, I never found Bill Hybels offensive or smarmy unlike other pastors of mega churches.
I always felt he really was trying to spread the Gospel and make it relevant, are his methods completely wrong? That might not be evident for many years to come or til we meet the Lord in heaven.
19. nikki said the following at 8:41 AM on Nov 1:
I don't know all that much about seeker-sensitive churches, so maybe I'm wrong here. But aren't all churches supposed to draw in unsaved people and share the truth with them? It doesn't have to be a shallow, watery message to be seeker sensitive, does it? Aren't all churches supposed to be seeking and saving? I don't agree with shallowness and disincentive to grow in one's faith, but it sounds like Hybels' church has succeeded in bringing a lot of people to Christ. Their failure (from the little I know) was that there was no added encouragement to grow or continue to seek the truth. But a church with so many conversions must be doing something right - something a lot of churches sure aren't doing. Yes, they have some problems, and I'm glad they're admitting that so freely. So can't a church be both seeker sensitive and encourage ever-deeper spiritual growth?
20. Patricia said the following at 9:32 AM on Nov 1:
I think what I find most impressive about Hybels is his willingness to admit the mistakes his church has made. To me, it suggests he sincerely does desire deep discipleship among attendees at Willow Creek rather than fame or power for himself. I hope other churches similarly occasionally evaluate their preconceptions to see if programs, practices, etc at their church are effective.
21. Mandi said the following at 10:28 AM on Nov 1:
Not sure if ironic is exactly the right word here, but it's definitely intresting that such observations about the fruit of innovation/man-made tradition are made after a post where people were discussing whether the Reformation was something worthy of celebration. Unfortunately, this is the fruit of that, as right as many of the objections to the Roman Church's excesses were.
22. Eric said the following at 12:01 PM on Nov 1:
Motte -
If you attended the leadership summit, I assume you were not paying attention if you think it was worthless because of these findings. Bill Hybels does not organize the summit to teach other churches to be just like his. He holds them to train up leaders, and he brings in leaders from all over the world (about half of which are not Christians). In fact, this year Bill commented about the leaders he brings in and his decision to bring in Jimmy Carter this year. He said that he trusts the attenders are grown ups and can separate the wheat from the chaffe.
I have gone to the last 2 and will continue to go because of what God has done in my heart as a leader. Yes, he made a mistake, but now Hybels has shown another trait of a leader. Admitting his mistake and working to correct it.
23. Adam Sloope said the following at 1:08 PM on Nov 1:
And you can hear the grumbling of so many churches around the states now! Whew! Good post. My personal dilemma in being part of a new movement of Christians is that we have mixed up the role of the church and its members. "Seeker Friendly" is ok. Seeker friendly is how you open up conversations and gain trust. Seeker friendly in my estimation is not what should be put forward on a Sunday morning gathering. Much like the old school way of going to the Synagogue on the Sabbath, we Americans go to a building each week on Sunday mornings that we call church. Well, the church is what is in the building, we just cumulatively gather to learn and be taught the word of God. Unfortunately these gatherings have turned their focus from the disciples to the world. The disciples should be worried about opening the relationships and being seeker friendly. The church has taken the responsibility of the disciples within the days after this gathering on Sunday and made it their main focus. Seeker friendly is a horrible term because there is way too much room to have false presumptions, but a church body meeting on a Sunday morning should be hard teaching that will help grow up disciples. Then those disciples go out and make disciples within their community or journey along life throughout the week. I think that is healthier view of what it should all look like.
24. Bohan M. said the following at 1:36 PM on Nov 1:
He says this is an "earth shaking", "ground breaking", and "mind blowing" discovery. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds it totally UNsurprising.
25. Candice Watters said the following at 1:50 PM on Nov 1:
Aw shucks, Motte, I'm sure there aren't any refund requests. But I'm hopeful that this news is out and that Bill Hybels is humbly and honestly looking at the fruit of his church's influence. Wouldn't be exciting to see him shift gears toward intensive discipleship?
26. RL said the following at 3:26 PM on Nov 1:
It's too bad he didn't listen to John MacArthur, Michael Horton, and Mark Dever (plus the Pyro guys) over the years, he could've learned that a long time ago!
It's funny, G.A. Pritchard published his dissertation into the book Willow Creek Seeker Services.
Anybody who wants to have a biblically healthy church should read the materials by the three authors mentioned.
27. Justice said the following at 10:39 AM on Nov 4:
Adam Sloope,
I would have to disagree with you on a lot of this. Having attended a seeker sensitive church, most of it is shallow. The scriptures do not go deep into how we need to live and there seems to be a lack of feeling that you are in church. Incubus and the Killers ouwl be played before and after service. It has left an entire young generation who is spiritually immature. The best young people they find to lead things have been guys who sleep around, go to the bars and almost start fights, another guy who dated girl after girl and finally stole his best friends girl and people who straight couldn't lead a car to drive straight. It has been a direct result of this watered down gospel. The key word that lacks is 'disciple.'
28. joshMshep said the following at 10:40 PM on Nov 4:
Here's the thing: I think Willow Creek is only making these "shocking" revelations in an effort to present the case for their new ministry, Reveal:
http://revealnow.com/
This book/blog/etc. is a "spiritual growth conversation" that shows how Willow is now correcting their course.
Here's the Video from the Leadership Summit Introducing This Ministry to those 70,000+ attendees...
Certainly not saying any church is perfect, and Willow has given the church worldwide a lot of innovation in the past decades. But I'm not a big fan of the overly-sensitive-to-seekers model.
29. obewan said the following at 8:24 AM on Nov 12:
To be fair, you would need to also cite the statistics on the "percentage of pew sitters" in conventional non-seeker churches.
I have met plenty of people in churches with rock solid teaching that are Sunday morning only, no quiet time, non-witnessing, lazy Christians. I have fallen into that trap myself – even when attending very solid churches and always need to be on my guard.
I am sure Willow Creek has a small groups ministry. I attend a mega church in Jacksonville, FL that follows the Willow Creek Model. Small Group attendance is mandatory for church members and we have over 400 small groups that meet weekly for intensive Bible study. We also have a Celebrate Recovery ministry with over 400 recovering addicts that meet every Saturday night. The stories are all about sin, salvation, and changed lives.
For the first time in my life, I am actually involved in ministry to the homeless. It is time to put the solid teaching to use. I have had enough of the vain, puffed up study with no practical application in the real world!
I am also tired of seeing "sanctified" Christians who look out on the world through rose colored stained glass windows while failing to get involved in ministry to those "seekers" most in need. Our church just finished the Willow Creek and World Vision multi-week series called “Don’t GO to church, BE the church. It was all about faith works. At the end of the study and sermon series, over 2500 people from our church completed over 100 community service projects in N/E Florida!