Michael Tolosa

On Saturday, I had a bad day. I found out that my wife and I had wasted a total of about $7,000 on a “beater” car we purchased a month ago, thinking it would last us through the next two years while we sacrificed financially to get out of debt. It was a perfect situation – a decent car needing only minimal repairs for a bargain price. Then we were broadsided with a costly oil pump break that caused damage to the engine. The cost of initial repairs would be over a thousand dollars, and that wasn’t counting the engine damage. It very well could be a total loss. We’ve decided to wash our hands of the thing before we dumped any more money into it.

It would be very easy for me to fall into a small depression over this large chunk of lost money. But I’ve been constantly reminding myself that it wasn’t our money to begin with. It was God’s money. We are simply stewards of the resources He’s given us. We tried really hard to be good stewards of His money. We kept our pride in check and purchased an old, inexpensive car for my wife. We shopped around and did research online. We enlisted several people in our car search and sought godly advice. We followed the “Dave Ramsey plan” in that we bought a “beater” so we could get out of debt faster. We did everything right.

But our best-laid plans are laughable to God. Our wisdom is foolishness to Him. Our perspective is so miniscule and limited, that we can hardly expect to understand why we go through struggles. However, we trust God that He’ll work everything out for our good.

As I waivered on the fulcrum of depression, I began to contemplate the fact that, as a Christian, this is as bad as it gets. My car could break down every week, I could lose my job tomorrow, I could even be beaten and killed next month – but the struggles I face during my few years here on Earth will be as bad as it gets for me.

When I die, it gets infinitely better. Upon my death, I will enter into the presence of God. There will never be pain, sorrow, broken down cars, or financial worry for me ever again. For Christians, our “hell” is our time on Earth. This is as bad as it gets. I could lose everything, and it would be nothing compared to the eternal judgment awaiting those who have rejected Christ.

I thank God that I will never experience true Hell, because Jesus has experienced it for me. He took my place, so that I could live forever with Him.

I have a “Jesus fish” on my car, not because I’m proud to be a Christian, but because it forces me to remember that I represent Christ while I’m driving — and at all times, for that matter. Cutting off someone who recognizes your car in traffic, one inappropriate joke overheard by your coworker, or a vulgar word spoken in a public restaurant can damage Christ’s image in the minds of those around us. We are a reflection of that image, and though flawed an imperfect, we should always remember that others are judging Christ by our actions.

Your theology about “seekers” will determine how you structure your church services. Most Christian churches today are focused on making their worship services appealing to seekers. Whether it’s mimicking the secular world in its style of worship, or serving milk to its flock in the form of theologically-light, easily-digestible sermons – the contemporary Christian church has made Sunday mornings more about engaging “almost believers” and winning them to Christ, than strengthening and equipping the existing congregation of believers to confront the hostile world outside the church walls.

Churches have combined Sunday worship with evangelism – attempting to kill two birds with one stone – not knowing that by doing so, they’ve become less effective at both.

Sabbath or Sunday worship was established for the benefit of God’s people. It was a time for them to worship God, fellowship with other believers, and learn more about our Creator through the Scriptures. Though we are told that there will always be “tares” (read: unbelievers) among the “wheat” inside our churches – and that we shouldn’t bother trying to root them out (Matt. 13:29) – we are never encouraged to actively invite tares into our churches. “What fellowship can light have with darkness? … What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Cor. 6:14-15)

A “seeker” is someone churches think is actively pursuing God, but just hasn’t found Him yet, or hasn’t been intellectually convinced that Christ is the Messiah. However, the Bible makes it clear that there is no such person. In fact, the Bible states that natural man is at enmity with God (Rom 8:7), and there is none who seek after God (Rom 3:11). Only after being born again (i.e., spiritually regenerated) can a person even see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).

The Apostle Paul states in 1 Cor. 2:14, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

R.C. Sproul rightly describes the so-called seeker as “…not seeking after God, but seeking the benefits that only God can give him, while at the same time fleeing as fast as he can from the immediate presence of God.”

The doctrine of man’s spiritual depravity is crucial to our understanding of the “seeker” issue. I won’t go into all the conclusions this doctrine ultimately leads to (i.e., the whole of Reformed theology), but it’s enough to say that the Bible makes it clear there are no such things as “seekers,” and the Church should not busy itself with trying to cater to this non-existent demographic.