Actscelerate.com

Wilkerson's Warning to the "Seeker Friendly" Churc

Acts-dicted Posts: 8065 **9/29/12 7:28 pm**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5-F9_8yB9-M#!
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"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves UPCI

I so much miss David Wilkerson

Bound By Beaulah Posts: 1003 **9/29/12 7:31 pm**

So true! He preached the Word of God!
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Ronnie Lingerfelt A/K/A 4 golf.

Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology Posts: 6385 **9/29/12 7:37 pm**

wow... i've been to churches exactly like what he speaks of.....

Re: Wilkerson's Warning to the "Seeker Friendly" C

Golf Cart Mafia Capo Posts: 2714 **9/29/12 8:59 pm**

I loved David Wilkerson...

Friendly Face Posts: 300 **9/29/12 9:57 pm**

I have always had great respect for David Wilkerson. Who could not respect him? However, like any man of God, he is still a man . Therefore, he is not infallible.

So many people create a "straw man" called "Seeker Friendly" or "Seeker Sensitive" and make it mean a moral compromiser or a presenter of a watered down Gospel. There are such people but most of them do not go by the term "seeker friendly."

The early originators of the idea of being sensitive to the spiritual seekers were people like Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, and Andy Stanley. These men are solid Gospel preachers and evangelicals. I've heard them attacked by other preachers who either did not know what they were talking about or who just were pandering to the crowd to get easy amens.

Here is a fact. Jesus was a "friend of sinners." He never pushed them away. He told stories they understood. He welcomed them (you know -- the adulterers, prostitutes, crooked tax collectors, thieves, liars -- the whole motley crew). He tailored his message to them so that could understand, saving his harshest words for those who felt being sensitive to the hurts, pains, and point of view of such people was a compromise.

Missionaries must "seeker sensitive" people. When you go cross culturally with the Gospel, you must be sensitive to the people you are trying to reach. You must choose words and methods to convey God's truth in a way the people Jesus called you to understand. Effective missionaries work hard at not needlessly offending the people they want to reach by a lack of sensitivity. They build bridges not walls, so that the pure message of the cross can be delivered.

Paul was "seeker sensitive". 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, "But I make myself a slave to all people to win as many as I can. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law. But to those who are ruled by the law I became like a person who is ruled by the law. I did this to win those who are ruled by the law. To those who are without the law I became like a person who is without the law. I did this to win those people who are without the law. (But really, I am not without God's law—I am ruled by Christ's law.) To those who are weak, I became weak so I could win the weak. I have become all things to all people so I could save some of them in any way possible." (NCV)

The Church is the only Institution on the planet that exists for people who are not its members. Dietrich Bonheoffer said, "Jesus was a man for others and unless we are a church for others, we are not the church of Jesus Christ." If we are not carefully we will become a "church for us." We will find ourselves providing weekly nostalgic experiences that have little or no meaning or relvance for the people we are called to reach. This will eventually lead to pastors providing "hospice care" to keep the church comfortable as it slowly dies.

I am sorry. I got more "fired up" as I wrote this. One day maybe we can stop judging others and and examine ourselves

Mike Chapman

Acts-dicted Posts: 8065 **9/29/12 10:26 pm**

Uh, brothers......

Let me ask you something. Forget titles like "seeker" for a moment. Was Wilkerson addressing some serious, relevant areas of concern in the modern church or not, even if you don't like the title he attached to it? Do you see any similarities between what Wilkerson described and what you perceive to be "seeker sensitive"? It seems he was referring to this obsession with being "accommodating' and trying to make people feel "comfortable",etc.

And as for Christian rock. I listen to allot of it, mainly from the 80's. But Wilkerson had some valid points and these guys should be a little more teachable and open to rebuke. Most young people , especially from the 60's on, who take on bizarre forms of dress, do so out of rebellion, rage, a need for acceptance, and a million other inner hang-ups. We do not need to mimic THEM by embracing the "look" that stems from inner hang-ups that Jesus is trying to set them free from!! We weaken the gospel when we do so. We can play good music with a rock sound that has a strong gospel message, but we will be more effective in producing real converts by dressing normally when we do so. Then those we are ministering to will say, "Wow, he plays good music, but he does not feel the need to dress wildly like me. He has an inner security that I want! I'm tired of living and looking this way and I want the freedom they have!!" Some Christian rockers remind me of a preacher I heard who says he drives a Cadillac,and then goes and shows it off to the inner city gang members "so they'll see that they don't have to sell drugs to have a fancy ride. See what the preacher drives?!" I kid you not!! Instead he should be preaching a message pf repentance that frees those boys from their covetousness "which is IDOLATRY"!

God never intended for Christian rock artists to wear sadomasochist, tight fitting, crutch hugging leather garb, or to have their bare chests showing, or to have androgynist painted faces. Nor do we need to go overboard with the entertainment aspect with wild lights and smoke bombs. It's fine for it to sound like a rock concert, but it need not look like one. So even if Wilkerson slightly missed it on that point, he still offered a much needed reproof to the Christian rock community. In fact, all the "Christian entertainment industry" needs a dose of this kind of preaching.
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"It is doubtful if any Trinitarian Pentecostals have ever professed to believe in three gods, and Oneness Pentecostals should not claim that they do." - Daniel Segraves UPCI

Golf Cart Mafia Underboss Posts: 3954 **9/29/12 10:57 pm**

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Acts Enthusiast Posts: 1323 **9/30/12 7:47 am**

I listened to the message.

He generalized everyone into one lump and totally missed it. Given his perspective he wouldn't like my church because its to comfortable.

It falls under the "we've always done it this way" category.

Patrick

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