Good evening all! I was quite sick last night (the night before that, I was out extremely late), but no matter - now I'm back on deck, and so we'll have a look at chapter 13.
This chapter is a shortish one, but it's also an important concept (and a little controversial).
Many times when we run events designed to attract the unbeliever (remembering from the last chapter that attractional concepts of evangelism aren't necessarily wrong), we don't include worship. The rationale is that worship is primarily aimed at people who are already Christians. But Warren here introduces the radical idea that worship can actually be a witness.
He lists 12 convictions about worship.
1) Only believers can truly worship God. No problem there so far. After all, it's impossible to tell someone what they're worth if you don't believe they exist, and that's essentially what worship is.
2) You don't need a building to worship God. Again, no questions so far. If you needed a special building, the church I have really been involved in since 1982 would be problematic!
3) There is no "correct" style of worship. No hassles here. The last 20 years has shown me so much in the way of variation of worship style that I'd accept this one as axiomatic[1].
4) Unbelievers can watch believers worship. Well, yes. They can see us, how we value God, how we respond to God's word, how the Bible answers the problems and questions of life. Interesting - a difficult question would be "What would people see if they watched us when we didn't realise they were there?
5) Worship is a powerful witness to unbelievers if God's presence is felt and the message is understandable. I wrestle with this concept - thinking of the day of Pentecost, for example! - but I can see the truth in it. If someone came to church and saw God doing God's thing, unbelief would become problematic. Warren goes on to point out that at Pentecost, one of the key things that made the difference was people hearing the Gospel in their own language; we must communicate in the normal ways people communicate truth to reach them.
6) God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang-ups and needs of unbelievers when they are present in our worship services. That makes sense too. Warren talks about the concept of "Seeker sensitive" services.
7) A worship service doesn't have to be shallow to be seeker-sensitive. The message doesn't have to be compromised to be understandable. I think I have always seen the truth in this intellectually; however, I realise that at some level I don't believe it. I keep thinking that when we do things to be seeker sensitive we have to "dumb it down" so to speak. This is easily seen to be a bad idea.
8) The needs of believers and unbelievers often overlap. They are very different in some areas but very similar in many areas. I guess this makes sense, but it goes against my gut feelings. Here's where some humility is necessary - it's important that I don't give gut feeling more importance than someone who has demonstrated that he understands how to build a church! In any case, he's right - everyone needs to know what God is like, to understand the purpose of life, to know how and why to forgive others and [especially] everyone needs help in strengthening marriage and family.
9) It is best to specialize your services according to their purpose. I guess this is fairly self-evident too. Here's where the difference between a "seeker sensitive" service and a "seeker service" comes in - not all services should be seeker services, but all services should be seeker-sensitive.
10) A service geared towards seekers is meant to supplement personal evangelism, not replace it. A hearty AMEN! to this one. Remember that the amazing movement of God we experienced at the Billy Graham Crusades was actually the result of years of work before Billy Graham came to Australia, not just something that happened there and then.
11) There is no standard way to design a seeker service. Unbelievers are not all alike! Added to that, We're not all alike either. The non-negotiables are: 1) Treat unbelievers with love and respect; 2) Relate the service to their needs, and 3) Share the message in a practical, understandable manner. Remember that what really attracts large numbers of unchurched to a church is changed lives!
12) It takes unselfish, mature believers to offer a seeker-sensitive service. That's another axiom, right there. Remember, our attitude should be the same as Christ's!
[1] Science language, sorry - but this is a great word. It just means "Self-evident truth."
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