Monday, December 29, 2008

Will They Be Consistent?

For years the belief of the seeker-sensitive movement has been that results can be used to measure success. Any time their approach to 'doing church' has been criticized the response has been 'but look at how many people we have' or 'look at how many Baptisms we've done this year' to justify their approach as if the number of bodies in the seats somehow trumps any other consideration.

Now with things like this beginning to happen, I wonder if we'll find consistency among our seeker-sensitive bretheren? Will they take a church bankruptcy as a sign that what they're doing has not, after all, been correct?

I'm not holding my breath.

2 comments:

Joe B said...

Perhaps you could clarify the relationship between foreclosure and doctrine.

Growing churches borrow and build, while shrinking churches (and old, rich, declining denominations) seldom do.

I am probably more opposed to bean-counting spiritual endeavors AND build-it-and-they-will-come theology than you would ever dream of being. But if you want to see a church with strong reform theology on the financial skids, I can sure arrange a tour for you.

Larry said...

Hi Joe,

My point was not that a doctrinally sound church could never find itself in financial trouble, my point was will those who use numbers and growth as a sign of God's approval of their methods be consistent in that thinking when they face reversals of fortune.