In the spring of 2006, a church in Indiana named Granger Community Church, in an effort to reach out to their community and promote a sermon series they were calling “PureSex,” had four billboards put up around its community with the image of entwined male and female feet dangling off of a bed with the words mylamesexlife.com below it.  Upon visiting the website, one would watch a brief flash video asking questions surrounding the topic of sex (e.g. “You know that ‘seemed like a good idea at the time’ thing?  Well, was it?”).  At the end of the video, visitors were re-directed to the church website, where they learned more about the upcoming 5-week series, with sermons entitled: “The Greatest Sex You’ll Ever Have” , “The Language of Lust” , “Straight Talk for Men and Women” , “What Happens in Vegas WON’T Stay in Vegas” and “Porn: What’s the Big Deal?”  Along with the billboards, postcards were mailed out to the community and people in the church were encouraged to invite people as well.

The results were stunning:  attendance at the opening weekend services was 7300, up from a typical attendance in the 5000’s (and about half of the new people stayed at the church).  Countless first-timers to church heard about God’s good design for sex and the dangers of sexual immorality.  Local networks as well as national news stations picked up on the series and reported on it.  Churches around the country began to do similar sermon series with similar results.  And (as is obvious by me writing on it), it is still generating discussion over two years later.   

But, of course, the response has not all been positive.  Although they reached many new people through this approach, Granger received plenty of criticism as well.  One sample letter went like this: “It  now appears that in addition to Victoria’s Secret and countless other billboard ads loaded with sex, I now have to shield my children from church signs in order to keep their innocence intact. I am outraged that a Christian Church is putting signs up like this, so my 9-year-old can ask me, ‘Mama, what’s a sex life?’ Some churches are more than lukewarm people pleasers. They’re a menace to common decency. I remember clearly what the Word of God says about those who cause little ones to stumble. I tremble for these hirelings posing as shepherds.”

The “mylamesexlife.com” billboards are a perfect example of one of the greatest philosophy of ministry decisions faced by pastors and church leaders today:  what do I believe about the seeker-sensitive philosophy of doing ministry?  Is it Biblical, Christ-like, and Spirit-led to use methods such as billboard advertising on sex, sermon series based on pop culture, and entertaining skits, multi-media presentations, and performances in order to attract people to church so that they might hear the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Or is it, as its detractors would argue, simply a man-centered, watered-down gospel that trades the offensiveness of the cross and the suffering way of Christ for the comfort of self-help psychology and the tantalizing idol of megachurch status?

I’ve been evaluating this approach to ministry for a few years now and still find it a very difficult question (even though I know that those on the opposite ends of the spectrum find the answer very simple).  On one end of the spectrum are churches like Granger and their Executive Pastor Tim Stevens, author of the recent Pop Goes the Church, which argues that it is completely Biblical to use pop culture to speak the language of the people in order to make church relevant and bring them to a place where they will hear the gospel.  This past Christmas, Granger did a whole series based on Beatles music (“Let it Be…Christmas”), and Stevens writes in his book: “You see, if you don’t offer people something they need, they won’t come. If people don’t come, you can’t teach them the truth. So an effective church is busy identifying people’s needs and letting the community know you have some help they should consider.”

                Tim Stevens                                   David Wilkerson

On the other end of the spectrum are people like David Wilkerson, pastor of Times Square Church in New York and probably best known as the author and subject of The Cross and the Switchblade.  In a message called “The Gospel of Accomodation” (you can read it at http://thewordistrue.com/?p=21) that he gave at the Assemblies of God headquarters to pastors from all over the country, he spoke against what he saw as the nonconfronting message of the seeker-friendly church, along with pastors who rely more on formulas (e.g. do a survey to find out what nonchurchgoers want and issues they want churches to talk about and then give it to them) to grow their church than they do on prayer and the direction of the Spirit.  He warned against ungodly ambition and the goal of growing a church without real consideration being given to the leading of the Spirit and the Biblical message of repentance and faith in Christ.
As Wilkerson put it:  “I ask you, how long do you think that audience would stay in church if the pastor was gripped by the Holy Ghost, convicted for “entertaining” people toward hell, and suddenly preached a message entitled, “Be sure your sins will find you out”? How long would people keep coming back if a gospel of holy living and separation from the world was preached? Two things would happen: (1) Those who are misguided, hungry, and didn’t know any better would weep and run to the altar. (2) Those who are judiciously blinded by their pleasures in madness would flee from the church and never come again. The church doors would close.”  And:  “I’m not about to put up a silly skit and preach a 15-minute message on how to cope to a multitude of people who are dying and going to hell. I tremble at the thought.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and I will most likely be sharing some more of my reflections over the next couple of weeks.  If you have anything to add to the discussion, please post a comment.

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