How Do You Preach to Seekers?
This is the third post of a five-part series based on Pastor Daniel Im’s book, The Discipleship Opportunity: Leading a Great-Commission Church in a Post-Everything World. In his previous post, Daniel explained the mindset of “sleepers,” and how to preach to them. In this post, Daniel will talk about the type of church-goer that he calls “seekers”—people who aren’t Christians but are curious about learning more. Seekers are interested in spirituality. They haven’t yet decided whether to surrender their lives to Jesus, but they are interested in Him—among other forms of spirituality and faith. They are spiritually curious since they recognize that there’s more to life than the here and now. So how do you reach the seekers in your community and church?
Research reveals that evidence for Christianity isn’t the only barrier to faith for non- Christians. It’s an important one, but not the only one. In 2018, Barna Research, in a survey commissioned by Alpha and reported in Reviving Evangelism, discovered that non-Christians in the US would be more interested in Christianity if it had a better reputation, if they saw various churches in their communities working together more, and if they had an eye-opening spiritual experience themselves. And when survey respondents were asked how they would like to explore faith, the top three answers—by a large margin from the rest—were through a casual one-on-one conversation, through a casual conversation within a group, and through a person at church. The bottom two answers were through a tract and through a person on the street.
Seekers are in your church and your community. For the seekers in your community, you need to indirectly reach them through the disciples in your church. But unlike sleepers, seekers are also in your church, so you can reach them directly through your weekend services, discipleship pathway, programs, and outreach events.
Be creative! The point is to create an open, nonjudgmental, and non-threatening space where people can ask the questions that they are wrestling with. At my church, Beulah, we’ve been doing this through the Alpha course for years, and we have seen many seekers find answers to their questions and begin a relationship with Jesus. We’ve offered the course as a discover next step in our physical church buildings, in high schools, in prisons, in restaurants, in homes . . . even in a casino. And while you don’t have to use Alpha (there are alternatives), I find their material and training helpful and conducive for seekers to begin engaging with Jesus and the church.
Ensure that your discover next step covers all the major questions that seekers are asking these days: questions about God, life, faith, meaning, evil and suffering, prayer, the Bible, and the church.
You can also equip the disciples in your church to answer questions that seekers may ask. This can be done in a classroom environment that follows a specific curriculum. There are many to choose from. What’s important is that the focus isn’t about transferring information but offers experiential training on communicating the gospel story, how to effectively share their testimonies given the context, and to learn from one another and strengthen bonds with one another.
In the post-everything world that we’re living in, this seeker-friendly style is no longer relevant. Non-Christians won’t go to your church because you’re putting on a substandard musical, because your “band” is playing a Taylor Swift song as an opener, or because you’re giving a TED-style talk. Felt-need talks no longer attract seekers into the church because non-Christians don’t think of the church as a center for knowledge and community anymore. And they won’t be going to the church for entertainment, either. If they want any of that, they’ll just buy tickets to a performance (or watch it on YouTube), stream a docuseries, or listen to a podcast.
You don’t need to focus on attracting non-Christians to your church! If they’re uninterested, then they’re sleeping, and we need to cultivate friendships with them while praying that God would awaken them like He did with the dry bones. If they’re interested, then they’re seeking, and they will come to your church, so focus on helping them encounter the One their souls are longing for. Help them meet the living God instead of dumbing down your services and preaching.
Just because seekers are interested in God doesn’t mean they’re automatically interested in everything you have to say, so be interesting, engaging, and passionate in your preaching. Work on your craft by seeking feedback, getting coaching, watching and listening to your past messages, reading books, listening to podcasts, and going to seminars.
Prayerfully study the commentaries, but don’t preach like you’re giving an academic lecture. Preach like you’re snatching people from the fires of hell (Jude 1:23), because this is literally a matter of life and death! And preach with a pure heart, full of the Holy Spirit, and wholly surrendered to God because, as preacher and evangelist John Stott is quoted in Between Two Worlds, “the most privileged and moving experience a preacher can ever have is when, in the middle of a sermon, a strange hush descends upon the congregation. The sleepers have woken up, the coughers have stopped coughing, and the fidgeters are sitting still. No eyes or minds are wandering. Everybody is attending, though not to the preacher. For the preacher is forgotten, and the people are face to face with the living God, listening to his still, small voice.”
This is when the eyes of seekers will be opened. This is when they will meet Jesus like Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Not through entertainment or through an effort to stir up interest in God. But rather when we help them have an encounter with the living God through His word and Spirit. So as Paul said to Timothy:
Daniel Im is a pastor, Bible teacher, writer, and podcast host with a passion for the local church. He is the lead pastor of Beulah Alliance Church and the author of No Silver Bullets,Planning Missional Churches, and You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife Christina and their three children. For more information, visit danielim.com and connect with him on social media @danielsangi.
Want to share this with members of your church? The Disciplemaker blog from NavPress has published a series of articles from Daniel Im written for your church members.
Research reveals that evidence for Christianity isn’t the only barrier to faith for non- Christians. It’s an important one, but not the only one. In 2018, Barna Research, in a survey commissioned by Alpha and reported in Reviving Evangelism, discovered that non-Christians in the US would be more interested in Christianity if it had a better reputation, if they saw various churches in their communities working together more, and if they had an eye-opening spiritual experience themselves. And when survey respondents were asked how they would like to explore faith, the top three answers—by a large margin from the rest—were through a casual one-on-one conversation, through a casual conversation within a group, and through a person at church. The bottom two answers were through a tract and through a person on the street.
Seekers are in your church and your community. For the seekers in your community, you need to indirectly reach them through the disciples in your church. But unlike sleepers, seekers are also in your church, so you can reach them directly through your weekend services, discipleship pathway, programs, and outreach events.
OFFER A DISCOVER NEXT STEP
One way to answer seekers’ questions is to offer a discover next step to help them learn about God, ask life’s biggest questions, and discover what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. This can take the form of a short-term class, program, outreach event, or other experience—in person, online, or in a hybrid format.Be creative! The point is to create an open, nonjudgmental, and non-threatening space where people can ask the questions that they are wrestling with. At my church, Beulah, we’ve been doing this through the Alpha course for years, and we have seen many seekers find answers to their questions and begin a relationship with Jesus. We’ve offered the course as a discover next step in our physical church buildings, in high schools, in prisons, in restaurants, in homes . . . even in a casino. And while you don’t have to use Alpha (there are alternatives), I find their material and training helpful and conducive for seekers to begin engaging with Jesus and the church.
Ensure that your discover next step covers all the major questions that seekers are asking these days: questions about God, life, faith, meaning, evil and suffering, prayer, the Bible, and the church.
You can also equip the disciples in your church to answer questions that seekers may ask. This can be done in a classroom environment that follows a specific curriculum. There are many to choose from. What’s important is that the focus isn’t about transferring information but offers experiential training on communicating the gospel story, how to effectively share their testimonies given the context, and to learn from one another and strengthen bonds with one another.
HOW TO PREACH TO SEEKERS
Because of the influence of the church growth movement and its two foundational assumptions that continue to affect church practice today many churches began gearing their worship services toward “seekers”—which meant non-Christians in a general sense. Leading experts in this seeker-friendly style of ministry taught that we need to be attractive by doing whatever it takes to get people in the building, like putting on musicals, performing secular music, and sharing felt-need talks, among other tactics. As a result, many church services became so seeker friendly over time that they stopped being worshipful and meaningful for Christians. They became so focused on being friendly and helpful to non-Christians that they became unfriendly and unhelpful to Christians.In the post-everything world that we’re living in, this seeker-friendly style is no longer relevant. Non-Christians won’t go to your church because you’re putting on a substandard musical, because your “band” is playing a Taylor Swift song as an opener, or because you’re giving a TED-style talk. Felt-need talks no longer attract seekers into the church because non-Christians don’t think of the church as a center for knowledge and community anymore. And they won’t be going to the church for entertainment, either. If they want any of that, they’ll just buy tickets to a performance (or watch it on YouTube), stream a docuseries, or listen to a podcast.
You don’t need to focus on attracting non-Christians to your church! If they’re uninterested, then they’re sleeping, and we need to cultivate friendships with them while praying that God would awaken them like He did with the dry bones. If they’re interested, then they’re seeking, and they will come to your church, so focus on helping them encounter the One their souls are longing for. Help them meet the living God instead of dumbing down your services and preaching.
Just because seekers are interested in God doesn’t mean they’re automatically interested in everything you have to say, so be interesting, engaging, and passionate in your preaching. Work on your craft by seeking feedback, getting coaching, watching and listening to your past messages, reading books, listening to podcasts, and going to seminars.
Prayerfully study the commentaries, but don’t preach like you’re giving an academic lecture. Preach like you’re snatching people from the fires of hell (Jude 1:23), because this is literally a matter of life and death! And preach with a pure heart, full of the Holy Spirit, and wholly surrendered to God because, as preacher and evangelist John Stott is quoted in Between Two Worlds, “the most privileged and moving experience a preacher can ever have is when, in the middle of a sermon, a strange hush descends upon the congregation. The sleepers have woken up, the coughers have stopped coughing, and the fidgeters are sitting still. No eyes or minds are wandering. Everybody is attending, though not to the preacher. For the preacher is forgotten, and the people are face to face with the living God, listening to his still, small voice.”
This is when the eyes of seekers will be opened. This is when they will meet Jesus like Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus. Not through entertainment or through an effort to stir up interest in God. But rather when we help them have an encounter with the living God through His word and Spirit. So as Paul said to Timothy:
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.In the next post, you’ll read how to walk alongside those who consider themselves Christian, but have fallen away from the church (the consumers).
2 TIMOTHY 4:2-5
Daniel Im is a pastor, Bible teacher, writer, and podcast host with a passion for the local church. He is the lead pastor of Beulah Alliance Church and the author of No Silver Bullets,Planning Missional Churches, and You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife Christina and their three children. For more information, visit danielim.com and connect with him on social media @danielsangi.
Want to share this with members of your church? The Disciplemaker blog from NavPress has published a series of articles from Daniel Im written for your church members.
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