Art is the most subjective area of the church, hands down. Everyone has a different opinion. That’s why we must have a target audience. Often the first area arts leaders focus on is the product . . . but the first area must be your audience. When you define a target, stylistic issues no longer become a matter of preference but rather a matter of completing your mission. Churches shouldn’t use a style of music because someone prefers it, they should use it because it works; it helps the church’s mission.

Defining a “target” is as simple as answering the question: who are you trying to reach? Some churches answer this question with more thoroughness than others. Below, I discuss the three most basic targets a church can have. In each of these categories, evangelism and discipleship both exist, but they exist differently. I’m stealing the terminology directly from Nancy Beach’s book, “An Hour on Sunday.” If you think you understand the bold terms, you probably haven’t read the descriptions. Read on…

Believer Focused. The believer focused church believes that the main gathering is focused specifically for believers. In this setting, discipleship and community is king while evangelism occurs in other outreach activities. The believer focused church can get away with singing songs about “lifting my ebenezer” and all art focuses go towards helping believers experience God. The weekend services are absolutely not interested in reaching to those seeking God for the first time. This is not wrong.

Seeker Focused. The seeker focused church believes that that main gathering is focused specifically for the unsaved; those that are seeking God for the first time. In this setting, evangelism is king and discipleship occurs in other settings. Willow Creek Community Church is famous for their seeker orientation; however they do not claim to be Seeker Sensitive – Willow Creek is Seeker Focused. The seeker focused church will not sing “You saved me” in the main weekend services because it is a lie for the unsaved (their target). They would; however, do a song like “You saved me” in a midweek service specifically for believers. Arts elements for a main service are all about the style and terminology that would make sense to the unsaved seekers. This is not wrong.

Seeker Sensitive. The seeker sensitive church sees the main weekend service as being for the believers, but stays sensitive to the person seeking God. Discipleship and evangelism exist hand in hand simultaneously. The Seeker Sensitive church will sing about “lifting my ebenezar,” but not until they’ve explained what an ebenezar means. The Seeker Sensitive church aims to use terminology and arts elements that may be new to some, but they cannot derail the seeker. The Seeker Sensitive preacher does not assume everyone knows the story of Zaccheus. They understand their target is the believer, but they stay sensitive to the unsaved and create environments where the unsaved do not feel out of place or awkward. If we’re honest, I think most of us would acknowledge that this is exactly where most of our churches choose to be. This is not wrong.

Due to a lot of Seeker Focused churches claiming to be Seeker Sensitive, Seeker Sensitive has a lot of negative baggage. When I first read Nancy Beach’s book, I had to read this section again because I didn’t want to admit that I indeed was in a Seeker Sensitive church (I believed the negative baggage). But according to the definition above, I am.

Where does your church stand on your focus? If you’re not sure, print this out and ask your senior pastor. Then choose arts elements based on his answer. When you’re choosing arts elements, the style you like is irrelevant — you must think about your target.