…without a paddle

John over at Reformation Theology had some interesting thoughts on the "reformation" going on up at Willow Creek.

From an Out of Ur article:

Hawkins (Executive Pastor of Willow Creek) says, "We used to think you can’t upset a seeker. But while focusing on that we’ve really upset the Christ-centered people." He spoke about the high levels of dissatisfaction mature believer have with churches. Drawing from the 200 churches and the 57,000 people that have taken the survey, he said that most people are leaving the church because they’re not being challenged enough.

Because it’s the mature Christians who drive evangelism in the church Hawkins says, "Our strategy to reach seekers is now about focusing on the mature believers. This is a huge shift for Willow."

Before you start doing cartwheels about the death of the Seeker Sensitive movement, read John's thoughts:

Our first response to this might be "great!" but upon closer inspection it is evident that no real changes have been made whatsoever - which shows they have learned nothing. Why? Because this decision was derived from a poll and not the word of God. It is obvious that the consumer is still sovereign in Willow churches. And as long as they are sovereign whatever new doctrinal teaching that they plan to implement is already deeply flawed at the outset. Until the Word of God drives the content of church, including the reason and pattern of doing church, then you have dethroned God and set man in his place. This philosophy of worship assumes the Pelagian view of man that believes Christianity is just a product like any other product and that sold in the markets. Biblical preaching, in this model, is not what God uses to raise up the dead, but rather, Christianity is decided by a democratic vote. This is disastrous to the faith and, if evangelicalism has any hope of surviving, must be confronted lovingly but firmly so that we recapture the truth of the gospel. (emphasis mine)

Effectively, what Willow Creek is doing is what any savvy corporation would do. Identify your target market, and adjust your product to meet their needs. If what you're selling isn't marketable anymore, set up a focus group and find out what you should be selling. If they change their minds later, you change your business model so you can keep up. Brilliant.

If they really do end up engaging their people in more Bible study and place a higher emphasis on doctrine, I'll be curious to see what happens next. When people start consuming the meat of Scripture they soon grow tired of watered down pop-culture substitutes.