Apparently, Pastor Bill Hybels has seen the error of his ways (I think). I was forwarded an article that states that, after some deeper research, Willow Creek Church is abandoning their philosophy of church growth because it is not producing the results it advertises. Hybels says in the article that his "seeker sensitive" approach to winning the lost is not producing true disciples of Christ, but rather, it is just getting people into the church and inflating attendance.
In fact, Greg Hawkins--Executive Pastor of Willow Creek--goes as far as indirectly stating that their methods were not biblically sound from the get-go when he explains how they will remedy their mistake saying,
"Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.
Hawkins statement is very disturbing from many angles. And the saddest part is that many pastors--who should've known better--implemented these ideas among their congregations with no concern with how carnal the effect. I hope this admission makes everyone realize that it is God who truly builds His church(Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47; 1 Cor. 3:6-7) and not fancy methods or ideas.
In conclusion, I read nothing in the article that told me detailed approaches that Willow Creek will take to "rewrite their wrongs" so I look forward to seeing what will happen with this "awakening" they have experienced.
If you would like to read the article, please click here
1 comment:
Dear Brother,
I too shared your "excitment" when I read the Christianity Today article. Said excitment quickly turned to grief when I learned that Brian McLaren will be speaking at their 2008 youth conference. Is Willow Creek going emergent? It remains to be seen.
http://www.willowcreek.com/shift2008/home.aspx
Pray!
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