A Consumeristic Custom
Americans are accustomed to getting what they want. If we want breakfast cereal, our local grocery store likely has 100 or more options. If we want shoes, we can shop online and find an unfathomable variety of shapes and sizes. And we like going to the marketplace and finding options that are custom-fit to our demands and preferences. If Business A doesn’t have what we want, we’ll just switch over to Business B to get our goods and services. In America, so it would seem, the consumer is king.
Are Consumer-Driven Churches a Good Thing?
As a result, religious life in America has been affected by consumer-oriented thinking. Many church leaders have redesigned Sunday morning worship to appeal to the preferences and interests of community members they’d like to attract to their churches. At the same time, churchgoers have grown increasingly accustomed to shopping around for church experiences that are convenient, comfortable, and entertaining. I have no problem acknowledging that some churches have been very skillful in their marketing and have grown dramatically in size. I also have no doubt that many people attracted to these churches have encountered the gospel of Christ in a truly life-altering way.
But there’s a problem with adjusting church life to fit with consumer preferences. When it comes to the church, the consumer isn’t king. Christ is. I don’t doubt that we all would affirm this in what we say. After all, this is plainly indicated in the Bible (Matthew 28:18, John 19:33-37, Revelation 1:5, Revelation 19:16). But when it comes to practically embracing the kingship of Christ in our churches, I’m concerned many of us have lost our way.
What Do Consumer-Driven Churches Produce?
We need to give some thought to the result that consumer-driven churches will have in the long-term. The very nature of a consumer-driven church is that it will tend to produce consumer-oriented Christians who prioritize a church’s style and atmosphere over its substance. Churches like this will downplay the importance of selfless obedience and allegiance to Christ. They will adapt their theology, their programming, and their aesthetics to submit to the edicts of a consumer-oriented culture, instead of submitting to the Lordship of Jesus. When church leaders take this consumer-driven approach, they are indirectly teaching their people that Christ and his Word are insufficient for doing ministry – that we need Jesus plus a high-budget music production, or that we need Jesus plus an indoor playscape and video game arcade, or that we need Jesus plus any number of other arbitrary gimmicks aimed to entice and affirm the carnal appetites of a consumeristic society. If this is how we do ministry, are we really pointing people to a life of repentance and faith in Christ? Or are we creating the very problems that we claim to be fixing?
A Call for Christ-Centered Churches
All this being said, I recognize that we all use some sort of standard to decide which church we’re going to join. The problem is that many people evaluate churches according to their personal preferences – convenience, style, fashion, atmosphere, and so on. But we should be careful to make sure that the standard we use in our decision making isn’t a me-centered standard, but rather a Christ-centered standard.
Does the church center our attention on who Christ is and what Christ has done in redeeming sinners? Or does the church instead draw attention to the trendiness of its musicians, to the accomplishments of church leadership, or to the personality of the lead speaker? Is Christ simply part of the marketing equation, or is Christ the main event? Are the church members urged to participate in worshipping Christ through confessions of faith, abundant prayer, and congregational singing? Or are churchgoers merely treated like an audience of spectators? When the speaker presents the Word of God, is it shallow? Is it simplistic? Or is the Word of Christ shown to be substantial, and sufficient for salvation?
As Christians, we should always be concerned about reaching our lost and unbelieving world. But frankly, setting up consumer-driven “come and see” churches isn’t the best long-term strategy. We should invest in the real work of making deep disciples of Christ who will go out and live for Christ in every sphere of life. What we need isn’t for the programming of the church to be transformed according to consumer demands. Instead, what we need is for the people of the church to be transformed into faithful disciples of Jesus.
So let us be resolved that we will not compromise our identity as Christ’s church. Let’s be the faithful church Christ is calling us to be. Let unbelievers in our midst be impressed, not by the production quality of our worship services, but by the incredible riches of God’s kindness to us in Christ. Let’s love the affirmation of our King more than we love the approval of our culture.
