"Catering"

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me."  Luke 9:23

The word cater has several meanings.  When a meal is catered, food or services are provided for the event.  It also means:  to provide or supply what amuses, is desired, or gives pleasure, comfort, etc.  It is nice to have an event catered.  It takes a lot of the work off of you.  But when you use the word in the sense of catering "to", it isn't always good.  The synonyms are humor, indulge, please.

Why did I go through this definition with you?  Because I see something that has been happening in the churches and continues to escalate, that though it may seem good in the long run it isn't.  When we cater to and indulge the desires of people, we are not always doing them a good thing.  Sometimes it is more harmful.  

For example, I have noticed that many churches are catering to the young people in order to bring them into the church.  The music is changed to cater to them.  The décor of the church is changed to cater to them.  The sermons are even changed to cater to them so that it will be appealing to them and not "run" them away.  I understand that they need to have something that is relevant to them.  And, yes, we want to bring them in.  I believe they are the church's future-- perhaps our present.  I believe God has a special call and anointing on this generation.  But they won't be won to Christ by our catering to them-- to their whims, desires, lusts, wants and wishes.  What we are doing in effect is teaching them that it is all about them.  We are teaching them that it all centers around them.  That is not what the Bible teches.  It teaches self-denial.  It teaches death to self and selfish, self-centered desires.  It teaches that we don't always get what we want or have it our way.  It teaches that it is about others, not us.  It teaches that we aren't first, we are to take the position of last and least.  
While we have good intentions, we may not have the right method of fulfilling them.  We don't cater to people-- Jesus didn't.  We love and embrace them.  We don't cater to win people.  We give them the truth which is what makes them free.  We don't cater to them and make them think that they are the center of the universe-- it is all about them.  We present Jesus, Who is their answer.  When we focus on that, instead of trying to make everything "seeker friendly", they will come and they will be won to Christ-- not just attend our churches.     

Have a great day.  Catering to people to get them to come to Christ is not the Biblical method.