the seeker-sensitive movement

I found this on somebody's blog and thought you would like to read it.

This was written by Chris Hobeck at professionalblogger.blogspot.com

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Here's an article I've written about the seeker-sensitive movement. I'd like your input on it.

Have you ever heard of the phrase "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?" Is it true, and is it legitimate to use it in evangelism?

Well, God does have a wonderful plan for our eternities, but that's not what non-Christians think of when they think of "God's wonderful plan." They think of the here and now: more money, better car, bigger house, etc. So, because we somehow think that we need to be sensitive to the "seeker" (keep in mind that Romans 3 states clearly that "there is none who seeks after God") and his/her felt needs (again, where is that in Scripture?), so we use that and say that if our non-Christian friend simply accepts God's wonderful plan and says a prayer, that Jesus will enter his life and he'll have peace, joy, happiness, he'll have purpose, his territory will be expanded, and all in all his troubles will be over. But that's not true! Many Christians are having problems and trials. Our message doesn't match reality.

Did you see The Passion? I did, and in real life the Romans weren't nearly as lenient towards Jesus as they were in the movie, especially with the flogging. Often many of the souls condemned to crucifixion died from the flogging alone, because it would rip away your flesh, expose your insides, and occasionally cause the person's intensines to fall out. We don't know if that happened to Jesus, but history records that it did happened. That's how gruesome it was.

The blood didn't just trickle when they put the crown on his head, it flowed like a river. This is because the crown of thorns is better described as a helmet entirely consisting of one-inch long wooden spikes. That would require a little more than an aspirin and a Band-Aid to fix.

And then, finally, the cross. This was so terrible, people had to invent a word just to describe it: excruciating, which literally means "out of the cross." Imagine someone hammering heavy iron stakes into your palms and feet, some of the most sensitive areas of your body, after undergoing the flogging and crown of thorns. And keep in mind that the flogging had turned his back essentially into raw hamburger meat, which was then forced to rub against the rough-hewn cross in order to breathe.

And finally, a hardened soldier plunged his sharpened spear into the side of the Son of God, causing whatever remained of His blood and bodily fluid to gush out like a water hose.

That's what Jesus endured. Plus, He had emotional trauma in the Garden of Gethsemane, was forced to walk several miles (probably chained the whole way) and endured the shames of a mock trial and public nakedness. That's what the Bible means when it says He was marred more than any other man (Isaiah 52:14).

What does that have to do with the seeker-sensitive fad, or the modern "Jesus loves you" message? Well, I'd like to ask you a question. Did Jesus suffer all that and die just to give us peace, joy, and lasting happiness in this life? Did our Lord lose every drop of fluid He had in His body to give us multi-million dollar mansions, Rolex watches, and Rolls Royces? Did He humble Himself to become a man and voluntarily and silently go through that indescribable torture so we could expand our territory and have purpose-driven lives?

How can even think such things?

Jesus Christ went through all that for one reason and one reason only. Because you and I have a fundamental problem, a cancer in our bodies, minds, and souls. It's called "sin," and it's described in the Ten Commandments. Jesus suffered because He knew that because of that sin, God would be forced to give us justice and we would end up in hell. So because of His great love for us, He went to the Cross to make man right with God, not to let man give in to his selfish desires. And if I may be so bold, I would say that to tell anyone otherwise is to speak a lie, and to believe anything else is idolatry (worshipping a false god).

God's love is not expressed in our bank balances, it's expressed on Golgotha, on that hill between two thieves, when Jesus stole us from the grasp of the devil.

Again, where did anyone in the New Testament win someone to Christ by using the "wonderful plan," "Jesus will give you peace and joy," "Just say a prayer and ask Jesus into your heart," etc., modern approach? I'm not trying to be rhetorical, I seriously want to know. If it's in Scripture, then I'll gladly use it as a model.

This may sound like hell-fire preaching or fear tactics. However, I wholeheartedly believe that hell-fire preaching is wrong. But when you show someone their sin and in love, out of concern for their soul, are honest and warn them of God's anger towards sin and those who commit sin (Psalm 5:5, 7:11), then hell is reasonable, logically following from God's justice against our transgressions.

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In the late 1980s, TV commercials in the U.S. asked, "What goes through the mind of a driver who is not wearing a seat belt in a head-on collision?" Then they showed a crash dummy having its head crushed by a steering wheel in a collision, and said, "The steering wheel!" Those were scare tactics, but no one complained because they were legitimate scare tactics. That'?s what happens in a head-on collision if you are foolish enough to not put on a seat belt. To warn of hell is fearful, but it is absolutely legitimate, because the Bible says that it is a fearful thing for a sinner to fall into the hands of the living God. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." -- Matthew 10:28

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..." -- Proverbs 9:10a

"Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..."
-- 2 Corinthians 5:11a


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