Was Jesus "Seeker Sensitive"?

Well I thought it was time for me to stir up some controversy and share some of my thoughts with you. I am expecting people to disagree with me, so feel free to post your thoughts whether you agree, disagree, or just want to dialogue about it. Recently in my own thought-life I have been trying to come up with my own understanding of what a sound biblical ecclesiological model would look like for the church to follow. One of the things I have been thinking about is was Jesus seeker sensitive in his ministry. As I have been in the Gospel of John in my devotions and one passage sticks out. So here it is turn in your Bibles to John 6:

Ok here what’s going on in the beginning of the chapter verses 1-14 . Jesus has large crowd following him because of the miracles he has been doing. So we know that Jesus definitely attracted the crowds. And we know this was the famous feeding of the 5000 passage a miracle that is recorded in all 4 Gospels. Well anyway we know how the story goes there is no food to feed the crowd but Jesus does not send them away but feeds the crowd with a small boy’s lunch. It is miracle!!! Especially when you are hungry notice that Jesus was sensitive to the needs of the crowd. He wanted them fed he had compassion on them. He did not want them to go hungry but does that make Jesus “seeker sensitive”?

Let’s fast forward a little bit to the next day; where Jesus addresses the crowd. Remember he has a large audience of at least 5000 people. Now let’s stop and think for a moment that an amazing opportunity! If you had the chance to say anything to a group that large what would you do? Especially if you wanted to seek and save the lost? I would probably want to present the Romans Road and give an invitation. Others who are particularly seeker sensitive might try a different strategy and say: “Hey let’s get them involved in the sports ministry or something and that way they’ll keep coming to our Church. But hey let’s make sure not to offend them but make sure they keep coming and at the right time they make friends with someone and when there is no pressure one of their new Christian friends will share the Gospel with them. Or they might come to a Sunday service and then they can hear the Gospel when the Pastor gives an invitation” <-- That my dramatization of a seeker friendly approach anyway lets see what Jesus does.

In v.25 the crowds find Jesus and say, “Hey show us some signs and feed us again.” (New John Version). Then Jesus goes and does something completely intolerant and not seeker friendly. He exposes the real reason they have a new found desire for religious things. They want it for the material gain of the food. They want a free lunch. Then Jesus goes and says what they really need to take of is not the physical but the spiritual nourishment in v.27. The crowd not getting it replies “Yeah show us a sign. Like God did for the Israelites with Moses. Remember he fed them with bread from heaven. And by the way we are real spiritual! Did you catch how we used a Bible story to get what we want?” (Again keep in mind you are reading the New John paraphrase)

Well lets now leave the New John Paraphrase and see what how Jesus respond in the text of the ESV:
35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- 46not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Did you see what Jesus did? He made the crowd upset! Now suppose your Pastor had the opportunity to speak in front of 5000 people and he intentionally turned away the crowd! Do you think a Pastor-search-committee would be formed real soon? The text said they grumbled! The same crowd who just got fed by Jesus a day earlier and were delighted with him now are angry with him and are questioning his credentials.(People are so fickle) Asking “who does he think he is to be saying things like that!”(NJP) Then look Jesus responds with some harsh and pretty Calvinistic Theology and says, “No one can come to him unless the father draws him” Man! This would be like witnessing to someone and saying “Now that I shared the Gospel with you I know you will only accept it if you were predestined.” Wow that is just something you plain do not say to a seeker! Oh and let’s look at Jesus’ analogy its kinda well …cannibalistic! Again, I am pretty sure that was not the most seeker friendly terminology Jesus could have came up with.

Ok well I hate to do this to the text but I am gong to jump to a few verses to highlight the people’s response.
v.60 : When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"
v.66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

OUCH! Man, look what happened! The people are ticked off and they leave Jesus! Many of his disciples no longer walked with him! Guess what is amazing about that? Jesus is omniscient. Many times in the Gospel of John we see that John says Jesus “knowing their thoughts”. He was well aware he would turn them away. It was not an “Oops guess I offended a few guys next sermon will have to be less harsh.” This was intentional! So I am going to conclude that Jesus was not “seeker sensitive”

Well… If Jesus was not seeker-sensitive what was he concerned about?
#1 God’s glory. His father’s glory!
Why do say that? Look at verse v.26 and 27 Jesus chooses not to cater to the masses but expose their need for God by taking their self serving “feed me” attitude turning it around pointing to them what they really needed, the Father.
#2The truth
Jesus was clearly more concerned with defending and pronouncing the truth then worrying how the seeker was going to handle the truth. Look back at v.35-41. Jesus was not ashamed to say that he was the true bread of life. That is what they really needed and that what he said he was. There was no sugarcoating; in fact, he communicated this truth in way I am sure no one else would have. Why? Because it’s the truth he was more concerned about and communicating it, this opposed to be more concerned aboutwhat other would think or say about it. He cared more about the truth than popular opinion.
#3 God’s Sovereign Plan
We see this in v.37-40 Jesus clearly communicates the will of the Father to the crowds. He says that is what he wanted to do and what he came to do. He knew that nothing can thwart the will of the Father. He did not have to resort to tricks, gimmicks, warm fuzzy words, seeker sensitive programs to keep the crowds. He knew all that would come to him would be because his Father willed it. He did not have to win people over, but instead submit himself to God’s will knowing that those who come to him do so because the Father gave them to the son. He did have to get people but receive what the Father had to give.

So how should this affect our ministry in our everyday lives? Well, naturally we should care about Jesus cared about. So will our primary concern be the glory of God when people are asking us for all sorts of things they think they need? Will we point them to what they really need? Not stuff but God himself! Will you stand for God’s truth? Will you jump to defend God’s truth knowing that most people will be offended by it? Will you deliver it to a people who need it but don’t want it? Lastly, will you yield your ministry to God’s sovereign plan? Will numbers be your measure of success or the accomplishing of God’s will through faithful service?