Beyondwordsworth talks about consumer mindsets she has encountered in Christianity, which she thinks are rooted in how we practice church:
A young couple who’ve been coming to our church said they chose us because they “didn’t like the worship” at the church they previously attended…But when music becomes more important in choosing a church than the church’s relationships, mission, teaching and equipping, there’s something wrong in what we’re training people to look for.
And another one of her points:
I overheard two people talking about how to do evangelism—exploring the question of culture—is our town similar enough to Minneapolis to employ some strategies that have been used there? ... There was some background information unavailable to me and the setting wasn’t conducive to catching up on the details. But I couldn’t help wondering about our view of evangelism–it seems to be similar to our view of church. We’re thinking of people as consumers rather than disciples.
The crux of her argument is here:
Instead, most churches are operating as if culture, consumer behavior and our individual tastes are in charge. Give us what we want and we’ll come to your church.[emphasis mine]
In my weaker moments I have judged churches for pithy things like style of music. Of course I know this is wrong, but being raised in a society that prizes it’s liberty self-reliance makes it hard to not parse one’s church-going similarly. With that said, I would—hopefully—never make an actual judgment of a church’s ministry based on something foolish like their order of service or instruments used in worship.
Whether or not they believe in Jesus, now that’s cause for question.
How true in your estimation is this idea that Christians are becoming consumer-minded? Are the vast majority of church attendees just there because of the programming/branding/business model of the church? Or do you think this idea of consumeristic Christianity has been overblown? Would it even be a bad thing to treat church this way?
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January 29, 2008 at 18:04
I agree with your general proposition that Christians are becoming too consumer minded. But I also think that there is a very fine line here. I live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. There are literally dozens of churches within 20 minutes of my house that do excellent ministry, provide a place to build strong relationships, and that have a mission worth becoming a part of. When choosing between good options, is there anything inherently wrong with picking the one that I like the best based on personal preference issues? I’m not so sure.
On the other hand, if the ministry, relationships, mission and other things like that are good, is it okay for me to leave just because I don’t like the song choice or because I have a personality conflict with somebody on the staff? I’m not so sure about that either.
Is there (or should there be) a difference in how we look at the reasons why we choose a church in the first place and reasons why we choose to leave?
January 29, 2008 at 23:20
I think that what we see really is NO DIFFERENT than 18th-century America. People back then, like today, would fellowship if church used the proper hymnal. Or, they would not fellowship if a church was extravagant and employed the use of an organ. So, I think in the context of history, we are really the same as our great-great-great grandparents.
Now, culture is always an issue that we has been there, too. Remember Hudson Taylor who died his hair black and learned Chinese and how he was chastened by his peers? Was he really thinking of consumerism, or could it be that decoding culture is a biblically-mandated activity?
January 30, 2008 at 00:46
Yes and know. To some degree the church needs to be aware of the culture to reach out to it. I’ve seen churches have demographic studies of the area so they better understand the mindset of those around them. That’s important. I mean when we send missionaries to far away places don’t we do an extensive study of their culture so that we can present the Gospel more effectively? You wouldn’t send a missionary to, let’s say, Japan without first thoroughly teaching that person about Japanese culture and customs. You wouldn’t (usually) have a mission in Africa that operates and interacts with the people solely on American culture. Because we know to reach all people you must go to them…you can’t drag them to you.
Whether people like it or not there are MANY different cultures within American society. I’ve traveled much of the Northern and Southern United States and been to many denominations. I’ve noticed that the Praise & Worship reflects the culture of the immediate area…even within denominations.
I think another mistake many churches make is differentiating between Praise and Worship. Praise is an emotional response to God whereas Worship is a spiritual response. Both of them are intimately tied to each other and both of them God desires from us. They need not always come on Sunday. In fact Jesus said the following in John 4:21,23-24 (NIV)
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
This doesn’t mean you will go to church and worship God there but that our worship will occur in our spirit and that the physical location is irrelevant. If the only time we worship God is when we’re in our pews than our spiritual state is far from healthy.
The point I’m getting at is that much of what we are doing on Sunday is praising God. An emotional act. If the music of a church does not excite my emotions (which God gave me and instructs me to use to praise Him) than I should weigh in everything about that church and decide whether or not it is for me.
The churches job is to disciple and instruct and excite people to serve and follow God. Music, for many people, is a major motivator. For some hymns stir up this excitement. For many others contemporary worship. And for even others “White Metal” praise music does this. We were all made differently and all made to praise God in different unique ways.
But I think churches take this too far in both directions. Some churches decide that “This is our church. This is how we’ve always done it. This is the way we’ll always do it.” and not allow the Spirit to form them to the changes around them.
Then you have other churches who go to the extreme of marketing the gospel and worship. I saw one church go nuts on reaching a set number of souls for Jesus in a set period of time. They put a dollar amount on human souls and only invested in ministries that seemed to reap the most saved (like we can really get a figure on how many people truly accept Christ from a one night crusade) in the shortest amount of time.
Both I think are equally dangerous. On one side you have a bunch of Christians who are stuck in tradition rather than changing with the Spirit and in another you have Christians who think money saves souls.
Then even further people who wash down the gospel and their church so more people will come and tithe.
You need to understand the culture around you and have a church that reaches out to that culture. Even more importantly we need to stop looking at shallow things to determine whether a church is “good” or not but instead see if that church is reaching out to the people God intended it to reach out to.
Not every church can reach out to every culture in our society. Instead of trying to make everyone happy they need to ask God “Who do you want us to be? And who do you want us to reach out to?”
There are different churches for different people (you can take this to an extreme, but I mean it in a controlled sense).
To some individuals hymns are the preferred praise and worship. This is how they become close to God and anything else distracts them.
To others rock ‘n roll worship does it. It sets them on fire for God.
Biblically, NEITHER is wrong…it just depends on who God has called you to reach out to.
You need to speak the language and understand the culture before you can effectively communicate.
If I walk into the middle of Moscow and start preaching in Swahili in a toga I’m going to be considered crazy by the Russians and insult anyone who speaks Swahili for dressing up in something so ridiculous.
January 30, 2008 at 13:59
I believe that the importance we place on the various components that make up the “church experience” directly coorelates to the importance that the church places on them. If it’s the way in which we evangelize, it’s because we have been told: “every Christian must be an evangelist”. If it’s the music aspect, it’s because we’ve been told: “God hates music” ,or “Jesus played a mean guitar in His day. And if he didn’t, surely He would have had He known how you can move an audience with a sweet solo”! The focus is off because the church is off. I don’t have any easy solutions, other than the hope that church leaders would be mindful of their words and take very seriously the responsibility they have been given.
January 30, 2008 at 14:54
I am leaning toward Kirkpatrick’s view. Lately I have been very befuddled as to the state of younger people who are “in” the church or have been in it. It seems like evry dayI overhear some conversation like “And this is my girlfriend and here is our daughter and yea, I went to school at XYZ Christian school too!” You get the picture. Or “Oh yea, last weekend I got S#@t faced with Paul. Sunday I’m at church in the AM then you can come over and watch the game…” These people are going to or went to bible-preaching institutions. What are we missing? We have presented the gospel in every way possible over the centuries yet we stil end up with people in the middle. Sunday school. Uouth group. Etc, etc, etc. I figured you would either go for heaven or tempt hell…not live for both.
January 30, 2008 at 16:15
Responsibility is the key word in what or how a person chooses a church. First you as a Christian should be responsible enough to check things out for your self. Don’t let someone tell you what to think about a church. Look into how the church is run (ie; no secrets, no private ceremonies etc). Then think of what you want for your self and the church as a whole. Get involved with the church and show by example what Jesus did so long ago. Now how about the resposibilities of the Pastor(s)? How do they conduct services, relate to others in the congregation and what do they want for the church. Take all these things into consideration, but remember it is never between you and them, it’s between you and Him. In God’s Grace John
January 30, 2008 at 17:33
The worst thing about this is that it’s not even surprising anymore. We live in a society dominated by “what floats your boat is what’s right”, rather than “what’s true is what’s right”.
For example, I recently was privy to a conversation where someone had asked what religion they should follow, and one of the responses they got was “whichever one you can relate to the best”.
Now, it may simply be that I’m mad, or that I’m way off the mark, but I’d have thought a better answer would be do some research, see what they all say, reason it out and believe in the one with the best claim to the truth.
In the western world, everything is a commodity. Even faith.
February 2, 2008 at 12:45
If you really want to appreciate a good Christian church, go to a non-Christian country. I spent a month travelling around southern India, and I was never so happy to get back to my home church. Additionally, while I was there I visited some chapels and cathedrials. I have to say, though I am not catholic, I was always thankful to find one when I had a chance to come upon one in my travel. It was good be in the house of my Lord.
To be honest, the American church has a very small world view. Most of us don’t think beyond our borders. This country is so blessed with gospel that we think in terms of churches that fit me best, as opposed to other places who think in terms of no church at all.
I personally think if we all kept a world view on the spreading of the gospel, then the unimportant issues like worship style would fall by the wayside. Also, once we begin getting involved with the world’s need for Christ love, many of our sinful ways fall by the wayside because we simply don’t have time for the foolishness anymore.
February 4, 2008 at 17:30
I think music is a HUGE part of the service. I don’t go to church to hear a sermon, I don’t. It was never intended for church to be the place where you hear someone give a sermon. It was intended as a fellowship. I get most, if not all, of my word in my own personal time with God. The sermon is just a confirmation to me, or a message for the lost. Don’t get me wrong, the sermon is a huge part itself, but the ministries and the pastor are secondary to your relationship w/God. I still get few by the pastor, so don’t misquote me). But music is huge because it helps bring a mode of worship. Just as in everything, we must be ready and willing to worship, and music helps tremendously. If you can’t “feel” it, for lack of a better word, then it’s hard to enter into a truly Holy Spirit anointed worship. Worship involves prayer, it’s the time we get together and praise God and offer up our troubles and pray to Him. Music helps the mood. I’ll leave with a quote by Leonard Ravenhill.
“This much is sure in all churches… if weak in prayer we are weak everywhere.”
If worship helps someone pray, then why can’t they find a church in which they enjoy the worship? Would you stay at a church in which you aren’t getting fed by the pastor? No… why stay at a church in which you don’t get fed by worship?