Marketing Christianity
A recent Boundless article caught my eye. Entitled "Feel-Good Faith" it described the reaction of Nebraska Senators to a preacher who gave a prayer that asked forgiveness for abortion before a legislative session. The article went on to discuss how Christians have tried to build a truce with the world and how this complacency is hurting the North American church.
I identified with the sentiments in this article because I have been grappling with my own churches move towards Feel-Good Christianity. I'm hesitant to be critical because the elders of a church deserve respect but it seems to me that something is wrong.
We have a Starbucks in the church lobby. Everything we do seems to have some fancy sounding label that looks like it should be followed by a little TM. There is never any mention of sin, Hell or anything else that might sound judgmental or unpleasant.
It seems like this is a growing trend for churches across the country.
Are we marketing instead of witnessing? Christianity needs to be about a persons connection with their Creator. It shouldn't be something that people "buy into".
I identified with the sentiments in this article because I have been grappling with my own churches move towards Feel-Good Christianity. I'm hesitant to be critical because the elders of a church deserve respect but it seems to me that something is wrong.
We have a Starbucks in the church lobby. Everything we do seems to have some fancy sounding label that looks like it should be followed by a little TM. There is never any mention of sin, Hell or anything else that might sound judgmental or unpleasant.
It seems like this is a growing trend for churches across the country.
Are we marketing instead of witnessing? Christianity needs to be about a persons connection with their Creator. It shouldn't be something that people "buy into".
4 Comments:
Thanks for that. I really needed it.
I myself sometimes struggle with that. I want to be a 'good' Christian, but I don't want to force my views on people and put them down. That's just being wimpy...
noooooo way?! Do you seriously have a Starbucks in your Lobby?
huh?!
Great post.
This is definately happening all too often in the churches today. People think that we need to look cool to get the world interested in Christianity. You never saw Jesus doing that though.
We just moved to TN, the "Bible Belt". We cannot find any good churches though, and have resorted to doing homechurch. Its pretty nice, but it would be a blessing to find a church around here.
It is happening all over. Feel good, water down the Word, gather the numbers into the seats and fellowship!
Fellowship is great, don't get me wrong, but we should be living such God centered lives, daily. We should be immersed in His Word, daily. We should be out amongst all people, building relationships, and living as Christ did, daily.
Would God drink Starbucks Sunday mornings. I bet he would, if He were invited in. He would love and admonish in truth. He would probably not speak in ways that everyone would feel good about. Conviction of sin and weakness just does not feel good.
He would also sit under the bridge with the homeless, he would walk along the way with whomever he came across, believer or not. He would fit in and not fit in at the same time. He would fit in by being genuine but he would probably not fit in anywhere that "goodness" was about being politically correct or how we "act" in certain settings. He would speak the truth, for truth's sake. He would love for love's sake. Being God He can do that.
I'm not God but if I loved for love's sake it would be for God, as He is love.
If I spoke truth for truth's sake it would be for God, as He is truth. None of it would be for me or about me. (that's the hardest part for me)
I hope that makes sense. Have I achieved this? Nope. But I am working on it. I also wish that I had understood this back when I was a teen. I loved the Lord then, with all my heart, mind and strength, but I also loved being loved. Now, I can accept that not everyone will love me, but I still need to be genuine and let God work through me as He sees fit. I just need to keep working on the packaging!
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