Maybe you have never heard of “Seeker-Friendly” church services. Some church groups started this type of service years ago to try to connect more to their communities.
“Seekers” were considered those people who knew they needed something, but did not like their present church . They usually thought their traditional service was boring and irrelevant to their lives. Other churches became furious over this idea and acted with distain towards any who would align themselves with those “seeker” churches. Some of the pettiness seemed to me like middle school girl fights to me.
But the idea of a “seeker” church is correct. But instead of people being the “seekers” to a church, it should be that the church is the “seeker” of people lost to God. Why? Because the very nature of the head of the church, Jesus Christ, demands it.
Jesus said,”For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” [Luke 19:10 NASB]
Jesus had an agenda to go after people. And the people He planned to pursue were not nice church people, but people lost to God. The people Jesus came for were sinners.
And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [Luke 5:3-32 NASB]
The game plan of Jesus Christ when He came to this earth was to pursue those who had sinned against God’s commands -that is all of us. And just so we do not get so high-minded that we think sinners are only those incarcerated for terrible crimes, here is what the Bible says sins are.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [Gal 5:19-21 NKJV]
Frankly, I do not know anyone who has not done some of these things. Remember, in spite of these things we have done, Jesus came to seek us.
The church, which is the body of believers, is to do what Jesus did. We carry out His vision. He gave his church a commission to proactively go into the world and proclaim His gospel. The church is to “seek and save” that which is lost. The church is to “call sinners to repentance.” We are to plan our agendas, spend our money, create good services, employ people, equip men and women young and old, to do just that. The church is really the “seeker”, looking for those for whom Christ died.