And that, as with most things in the life of a Christian, is the bottom line… do we follow the Word of the Lord? That was the concern on the mind of most of Fred’s respondents:

“Teach the Word – that’s what helped me a lot; a great Sunday School teacher that taught Revelation when I was first saved!”

“We shouldn't water down the deep things of God… If the leader has ability and sensitivity they will be able to put forward such things in a simple but exciting and challenging way making our walk with Jesus a continual and ongoing enrichment.”

“We don't try to be seeker sensitive; we just preach God's Word… It's a smorgasbord full of all kinds of meat. Milk may be added to the menu in the form of a class called The Basics of Christianity or some such thing, but seekers who graduate such a class should then be encouraged to move on to meatier classes.”

“For my part I think [being seeker-sensitve] is a heresy.  NEVER did Jesus water down His Word.  It's an extremely dangerous thing to do.  Making sure that people are grounded in the basics is very important.  I went to a church that has bought into the seeker-sensitive deal.  The youth group was the worst thing I've ever seen.”

So far, the mandate seems clear; preaching the Word of God without compromise is the primary duty of any believing body that gathers together. Perhaps that’s oversimplifying if not done with all-out-surrender. But if that ideal is geared so to equip Christians to evangelize and minister out in the world, we must honestly ask ourselves why we’re missing so many who are lost and yet seeking a spiritual path. Just this morning, yet another seemingly-innocuous article appeared in an Indiana newspaper that isn’t unlike many from the last couple years discussing the popularity of all things “emergent,” “relevant,” or “seeker-friendly”: