The Word Of God And Prayer

You are right. Some churches put more emphasis on prayer than the study of the Word of God. Some on the other hand, put more stress on the study of the Word than prayer. However, Acts 6 teaches the balance. Therefore, my suggestion to you is not to ignore either of the two disciplines. You have to maintain a balance between the two. In fact, any vibrant Christian living cannot neglect both disciplines or draw a dichotomy between the two. They should go together.

SEEKER-SENSITIVE CHURCH VS. TRADITIONAL CHURCH

I do not think that you can make such an adamant statement that a seeker-sensitive church cannot grow deep disciples of Christ. These were some of the issues we dealt with in one of my doctoral seminars in Evangelism when we were studying contemporary evangelism. I think you have to belong to a seeker-sensitive church to be able to make a fair judgment on the matter. The church to which I belong is not called seeker-sensitive but we use similar methods. I believe that members of such churches can grow deeper in Christ when the growth and discipleship process do not end at the church premises. In my local church for instance, we have Life Groups. The growth process continues in the Life groups. We have a large library and various discipleship materials that help leaders and members to grow. Therefore, I can say that in every church whether seeker-sensitive or not, the growth process depends on the individual Christian.

Mutual Love and Care
I don’t know about your church but what I know is that the lead pastor should initiate the vision, purpose, and direction of the church. There are a plethora of biblical directives pertaining to mutual love and care of the Body of Christ. However, many pastors take these directives for granted and do not preach and teach them to their congregations. Therefore, in an average church you find or see that only a few people provide the caring. When a member is grieving or hurting few people are there to console and help him/her. However, that should not be the case. All or almost the entire membership should rally their support behind the individual. That alone speaks volume to the watching world. That is what the early or first century was known. That is why in Acts 6 when the Grecian-Hebrews began to murmur and complain, the Apostles asked the congregation to set aside seven leaders with qualifications of wisdom, and full of the Spirit to lead them to stop the bias and complaint. The Bible is the Blueprint for Christian practice and living.

FELLOWSHIP AND MISSIONS
You have put your finger on something that the church should notice and address. Fellowship is very important in every church. Fellowship seeks to welcome, embrace, and integrate new members and guests of our churches. However, if a balance is not struck between fellowship and the Great Commission, soon the church would become an aquarium. The members become comfortable and infatuated with each other that they neglect people on the outside. Soon the church begins to die from the inside because they are not reaching any person on the outside. That unfortunately has happened to many churches that are dying today because they threw away evangelism and outreach. Therefore, the church should be careful not to neglect those on the outside.