The Sin of CONSUMERISM in the church :(

The heart sin of the church in America is consumerism. The very thing we are using to grow the church (all the betters)is killing the church.

better pastors
better programs
better facilities
better teachers
better offerings
better advertising
better activities
better attraction
better music
better methods
better, better, better is killing the church.

When seekers are seeking a church they ask consumer questions, like:

What does this church have to offer me?
What will this church do for me or my family?
How do I feel when I attend?
Will they take care of me?
Will they be nice to me?
Will they help me when I have a need?
Will I make friends their?
What about my children? Our teens?
Is it cool inside, is their room inside, is the production great?

It's all about me, myself and I. People who are called to church with the consumer hooks that grab and keep (for a season) are also caught into consumerism that leads to more consumerism. While churches grow with consumers who are attracted by consumer attractions those very churches must keep using more and more consumer hooks to keep them and reach more of them. The sin of consumerism is at the heart of the church. It is sin!

I have had leaders in my own denomination try to calm me down in my attempt to call out the "sin of consumerism" in the church today. Attractional Churches are good they say. This is a tool of God to reach more and more people, they say. And they are reaching more and more consumers with their consumer attractions. Even the leaders of said churches are consumer driven. Did you know that larger churches in America are leaving denominations by the droves? Why? Because they are asking the question - "What is the denomination doing for me or us?" They say, "We have given thousands and thousands of dollars and we have nothing to show for it." "We have no reason to belong to an organization that offers us so little in return." "We can do what we are doing and even more without the denomination that gave us birth." "We can become better stewards of our resources without the general church."

All are questions/statements that reveal their own selfish consumer driven mentality. What about the rest of us who strive to attract people to Jesus with Jesus and Jesus alone. We have no resources to pull in the crowds by the droves, we only have Jesus and His powerful Holy Spirit. And, this is all we need. We don't need the consumer stuff to attract people to better and better because Jesus is the better and BEST!

THIS IS ALL ABOUT CONSUMERISM! Hear me well when I say that leaders who use the consumer hook end up in the consumer trap of their own demise. One consumer longing for another consumer who longs for another and yet another and another. One attraction must lead to a better attraction. Next Christmas and Easter must be better than the last. We need more people next year, now what must we do to get more? You get the point, I'm sure!

I have come to discover that when Jesus is all we have, Jesus truly is all we need. People are hungry for Jesus and not for the cheap substitutes we often call church.

What we call people with is what we call people to. Call them "into" with a consumer hook and you have called them "into" consumerism. Consumerism is the greatest sin of the church in America. May God help us. As pastors and leaders and as consumers ourselves, we must repent.

Could it be that what made Jesus really mad in the temple was the very thing we have become? Consumers just doing what consumers do! It's a good thing Jesus (in the flesh) isn't walking through our churches. Jesus wants us to be attracted to Him with Him and by Him ALONE!