Seeker Sensitive Presuppositions

Presupposition One: Church Growth is Our Responsibility

The very first unbiblical notion on which this movement is founded is that church growth is our responsibility. This is clearly antithetical to the ministry and message of the Apostles. In his first epistle to the Corinthian church, Paul informed his readers that Christ had not sent him to baptize but to proclaim the good news of Christ (1 Cor. 1:17).

He was not in any way suggesting that to baptize disciples was not part of his original commission. Had it been otherwise, he would have been out of line in baptizing anyone. Yet, in this very context he confesses he had baptized Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas. What, then, can he mean when the writes that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach? The answer lies in the nature and purpose of baptism. Baptism is the initiatory rite of the Christian faith. It is this act by which one publicly confesses his union with Christ by faith. What Paul would teach us is that procuring such a commitment from sinners is not only beyond his ability but also beyond the realm of his responsibility.

Our work is to proclaim the gospel; God’s work is to make the gospel effective. We need to remember that in the early days of the Christian church, Luke tells us it was God who added to the church those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). Church growth is his work, not ours. Paul had to remind the fleshly Corinthians who had divided into factions over personalities that it was not the preacher and his manor or methods that caused the church to grow. He wrote, Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers [servants] through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase [caused it to grow] So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:5-7).

I recently viewed a video tape of a message preached by one of the leading lights in the seeker-friendly movement urging people to become involved in the great work of evangelism. As he came to the close of his impassioned exhortation, he told of his dying father’s words to him concerning the task of evangelism. His father, in what seems to have been a state of delirium, had continued to repeat the words, "Get just one more for Jesus! Get just one more for Jesus!" As I sat there and listened in utter amazement, I thought, Sir, you are out of your element. You can’t even get one for Jesus, much less one more for Him. Without controversy, it is every believer’s task to spread the good news that there is a Savior who has died for poor, helpless, hell-deserving sinners.

We must earnestly seek to persuade the unconverted to turn from the broad road that leads to destruction and enter the strait gate of conversion that alone leads to eternal life. We should diligently implore the great King to turn their hearts to Christ, but having discharged those duties, we must leave the results to Him.