Jeff had the privilege this week of attending a seminary by Kent Hughes, author of many books including Disciplines of a Godly Man. He actually also was blessed enough to sit by him at lunch! He feverishly scribbled down as many notes as he could, then shared with me when he got home. There were countless little nuggets, but one in particular stood out to me: Are we minstering to our congregations felt needs or real needs? This is not a new debate. Are we seeker friendly or not? I personally think that any church that preaches the pure true gospel is seeker friendly, but the debate has come to whether or not we should meet people at their point of felt need.
I’m no expert on this topic, but I will say that I think we are guilty, in general, as the church, by watering down our message to make it simply apply to felt needs. It is good to find a meeting point between the average Joe and some spiritual truth, but too often we go to such extremes to be meet the need of the person, we fail to recognize what their real need really is. Our felt needs include things like financial security, love, support, stability, peace. These are legitimate needs. But our real needs are things that are deeper–reconciliation with Christ, power over the bondage of sin, freedom from the lies of the enemy, courage and boldness to impact the world for Christ, humility to lose ourselves and live for the glory of God. Most people would not list these are their top ten needs, but the truth is this is what they are dying for.
I wish I had the answer. I don’t think we’ll ever get it perfect, but perhaps we can just aim more and more to minister to people at their point of real need. Perhaps we set our expectations too low, thinking people don’t want meat, and if we take away their milk they’ll run away. I suspect that nine times out of ten they’ll rise to the challenge, grab their steak knives, and dive in to the feast. Why? Because most people are hungrier than they even realize. And no endless cups of milk will satisfy a true spiritual craving for truth–the kind that addresses one’s real need.
So, those are just thoughts for today. Lord, help me know what I really need.