Church in an Age of Consumerism

Consumerism vs Relationships

Having spent the last 15+ years in a House Church environment, where we anticipated an environment of deep long term relationships, it has been a fascinating, albeit somewhat discouraging, experience in the effects of culture and concepts upon the way Christians currently view commitment to a given gathering of believers. It has both surprised and disappointed me. Being the idealist I tend to be I had anticipated deep long term relationships that would endure over time, primarily because I believed we were pursuing Church as it was meant to be.  And, while certainly not all of the experience has been disappointing we've seen doctrinal issues divide us, small personal offenses separate us, personal preferences insufficiently supported leading to disillusionment, and other such reasons for a breakdown in gathering commitments. I have come to a new appreciation for the reality, whether we are looking at simple House Church, or the more complex Traditional/Business modeled Church, both have their strengths and weaknesses and Jesus is far less committed to one approach over another than He is to His desire for His Church to be unified in Him and in deeply committed relationships with one another. No one form of gathering is immune to the effects of a culture so deeply committed to a Consumer Mentality.

Certainly offenses between believers, in both the early church and in our day make sticking with a given fellowship much more difficult, but in an age of consumerism it is even more difficult. When we spend significant amounts of time with one another offenses will come but how we resolve those speak deeply to the degree of value we place on loving and bearing with others faults or whether we'll just move on to the next storefront...hoping for better products, better customer service, less expensive prices to be paid.

While I believe the small simple house church environment most embodies the New Testament model of gathering it is obvious that it too is seriously affected by what is happening culturally and can become as unhealthy as the traditional church approach. Both have their pluses and minuses. No matter what form the Church takes it is clear that if we fail to value the key elements of strong core beliefs and deeply committed relationships that form will fail us. I now believe this is why Jesus hasn't abandoned one gathering type for another...He knows the "form" is far less significant than "the function." When non core beliefs and small offenses give us permission to walk out and not return we "know" something is amiss within thinking. Our enduring capacity, our values on deep interpersonal relationships, our love for one another, and our sense of "body" responsibility have been traded in for "this isn't the perfect environment I was looking for...I'm out of here..."

When we look at the New Testament for a concept of commitment to a local fellowship of believers we see nothing of a consumeristic approach, but rather a relationship based solely upon a shared belief that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the body. Yet, over time, as the Church transitioned into an institutional and later "Business Modeled" concept, and especially with the development of the Industrial Revolution, where businesses have become the model for just about everything, the Church has changed from this simple approach to relationship based around a shared commitment to certain core beliefs to something in which people arrive on the doorstep of any given local fellowship (House Church or Traditional Church) with a consumer's mentality far trumping a relationship mentality, and a formal or subconscious checklist ready to evaluate the acceptability of any given fellowship.

So, with checklist in hand or heart, we walk in and begin the process of evaluation much the same as we would evaluate the merchandise of any given store, or the investment strengths of any given business we would buy stock in. We want to know if they line up with all the doctrinal interpretations we most cherish (pre-mill, au-mill, post-mill, Calvanistic vs Armenian, etc.), if the building/physical environment is comfortable/appealing, how loud or spiritual the music is, how "anointed" the message seems to be, if the pastor seems friendly, if the programs support the things we feel we need to enhance our lives, whether they press for tithes or if they even believe in tithing, whether they are Gay tolerant or not, etc.

Such a consumer mentality makes if very difficult for any given gathering to match up to all the "felt needs" of any given visiting consumer. Thus, those who have been disillusioned with or wounded by a particular local expression of the Church will find themselves with an internal checklist in hand/heart looking for a new place that fits all or most of their list's requirements. It seems finding that "right mix" is increasingly harder and harder for folks and thus the overall attendance of local Churches is dropping dramatically. As I've indicated in other blogs entries here, the total number of Church attendees has dropped in alarming numbers in recent years. The vast majority of the body of Christ have given up and no longer attend any gathering on any regular basis. This, it seems to me, is very telling on the Consumer approach to gathering that is so prevalent in the modern Church. The Consumers are not happy. They aren't finding the right mix of products on the shelves to encourage them to put down roots in any local Church. As any normal consumer would do in such a situation they are voting with their feet and moving on. They come in, spend a Sunday or several Sunday's evaluating things, and then move down the road dissatisfied in the stock and try somewhere else they've heard has better products on the shelf.

So, what will be the outcome of this approach? Will the consumer driven Church ultimately reduce in size and impact to the point where it ceases to retain the market share of believers in any given locale? Or, will the body of Christ wake up and think more deeply about how the Early Church evaluated its gathering criterion and realign with them?

I think the approach the early Church took is best evidenced by a Creedal statement in 1 Timothy 3:16 

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. 

And, in 1 John 4:1-3  

Verse 1  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3  and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 

And, the moral element expressed in Acts 21:25  

But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality." 

As long as the folks gathering shared these basics all was pretty much good. It was "Core Beliefs" oriented rather than "Consumer Goods" oriented. Once they knew a given fellowship embraced these core beliefs they tolerated other elements that were of lesser significance doctrinally. We've lost this simplicity of approach and along with it we've lost relationship based gatherings that has cost us more than we can imagine. It seems obvious, by the way the writers of the New Testament framed the essentials of beliefs and the value of relationship, that the Early Church was as strong as it was because they knew what the essentials were and majored on the majors and didn't let the minors kill their relationships. I think to too great a degree we have lost this in our modern Church, whether it is the simple House Church gathering or the Traditional Building Oriented gathering. This is something that should create a far greater alarm than it seems to.

So what, if anything, could ever resolve this imbalanced perspective? I suspect only two things will likely be the cause for healthy change:

1. A major revival in the lives of God's people and in the lives of the lost of any given nation.

2. A major national or international crisis (whether it be a financial melt down, a major terror attack that destroys the infrastructure of the United States and other major nations, or an environmental collapse due to natural causes like an asteroid collision, or yellowstone national park super volcanic eruption, etc.), any of which would drive us closer to one another out of sheer desperation of need.

Apart from such a serious national intervention it seems unlikely that current cultural norms and standards will be sufficiently addressed to make the kinds of changes necessary. Until we experience a major renewal of a sense of need for one another that transcends a consumer driven process of evaluation we are unlikely to experience a sufficient "felt need" for one another that should comprise the mentality of the gathering of the saints. This amounts to a shift from a "me centered" approach to life, valuing the wrong set of "me felt needs" to an "others centered needs," and most especially a far higher appreciation for the Lord's desires for His body than is currently embraced.

If this change doesn't take place soon I suspect the modern Evangelical Church will continue its decline, its loss of impact on the development of national culture, and the lives of believers will increasingly become barren, unfruitful, and unhappy. 

It is time for Jesus' Church to arise and revise its criterion, to abandon a Consumer Mentality, and return to the Early Church's evaluative approach to gathering. If this happens then the dynamic life of Christ will once again grow in our midst as Jesus becomes the center of all we say, believe, and do. When we come together primarily to experience and appreciate the life of Christ in one another, comfort the discouraged, help grow in the knowledge of Christ all whom we relate to, assist financially and personally the needy, and embrace the Kingdom of God collectively, then our Churches will become the life giving environments Jesus envisioned.

At the end of the day this comes down to viewing Church and Christian life the way Jesus does. If He supported a consumeristic approach to Church we should to, but it is clear from the New Testament that He values a Core Beliefs and Relationship approach instead. My prayer is that we return to His approach for His Church and begin to experience the life He desires for His body. I'm going to go on record, and you tell me if your experience proves I'm wrong, but I believe no believer, who brings a Consumer mentality into the gathering, will ever be happy, satisfied, or fulfilled in any given Church. Not until we are guided more deeply by love and commitment to one another will Church be truly meaningful again.

So, how say you? Do you think this has merit, or do you see something else...something more biblically accurate?

Your brother in the journey...
Tom Sparks