(I promise the “Jesus” series will start soon!)

My faith became vital and alive to me in the late 1990s. At the time, it was fashionable to label people who were spiritually curious as “seekers”. The church that I was at (and eventually worked at) was actually known nation-wide as a pioneer in the “seeker-movement”, meaning it designed its weekend worship experiences for this particular demographic of people.

Years later, you can still find churches who use these labels to describe themselves:

… “seeker-friendly”

… “seeker-driven”

… “seeker-sensitive”.

Whatever you may think about the “seeker movement”, it was helpful for at least a season.

Lately, however, I’ve begun to think about the term differently. When we first started using the term in the late 90s, the unspoken implication was that eventually you would go from being a “seeker” to being a “finder”. Eventually your search would be over.

You would be “home.”

But I wonder if that’s truly accurate.

To seek something is to be actively pursuing it; to look for it; to crave it. To find something means to cease looking; to rest; to sit.

For better or worse, this has NOT been my story. My story (at least) has been characterized by an active pursuit of not just salvation but LIFE CHANGE (two fancy, spiritual words would be “sanctification” or—my personal preference—”theosis”).

The end of my “seeking” only triggered another phase of seeking.

In the eastern religions (in my primitive understanding of them) the notion of a “seeker” carries with it the idea of being a spiritual master. For many other faiths, “seekers” were those who remained pre-occupied with deeper and deeper levels of spirituality. They were contrasted with people who were merely content to dabble.

When did we turn “seeking” into something that was done before you were certain about your faith?

Why couldn’t our spiritual “arrival” to Christianity trigger an even greater level of seeking?

This is what I am pursuing.

I am not content.

My master (his name is Jesus) is still moving. So I have to keep on moving too. I have to keep seeking and following.

Do you have a seeker service for me?

Under the mercy…

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