The Consumer Church:
Christianity $19.95
The world today is more and more dependent of consumerism instead of Christianity. People are to busy to do any listening of God’s Word. What they want is an easy way to get it without any hassle. I did a message titled “Christianity for 19.95” and boy did I get a response. There were no in between statements, either people liked it or they didn’t. I heard comments from both sides; “How could want God to charge for Christianity, that’s absurd.” And; “I think he is right, more people may be interested in Christianity if they had to pay for it.” The two sides have valid points, it is absurd to expect God to charge for salvation, and yet people don’t expect something for free. This is the complexity of Christianity. God gives us the greatest gift without a monetary charge.
Today churches have made a radical change from just preaching the Bible. There are more and more churches turning to consumerism. Not consumerism in the form of money but feeding of the senses. Churches today are reaching for the senses of the people more than the salvation of the soul. People are searching for convenience more than they are searching for a place to serve. Church isn’t about the greatest of social meetings; it is not the place to go to have your ears tickled. It is the place that you come to hear the truth.
I have been troubled in watching people who attend church for their convenience. I have seen families come and go because things haven’t gone their way. I have seen people with ambitious ideas without the ambitions to follow through with them. I have seen people leave because they could not handle hearing the truth. Today I see more and more churches feeding egos instead of feeding the soul, and people are eager to go where it is ego filling. I have heard so many feel sorry for my family because the church doesn’t offer this, or the church doesn’t offer that; here is an idea, for people like that, maybe if you would participate in making a difference, and then there would be something to feed everyone. No, it is more convenient to leave than to stay. I am amazed at how many churches are located within a ten mile radius of where I live. I have counted 44 churches, all without a clue on how to grow. I have also seen churches unwilling to spend resources to make a difference. Both attitudes are wrong when it comes to church. I don’t care if the church has a million dollar budget and has to spend it all for the salvation of one soul. ONE SOUL IS WORTH IT ALL!!!! And I don’t care how inconvenient church may be at times, you don’t leave for convenience!! The topic of this paper is how people are treating church like a grocery store. If they don’t find what they like in one store they will go to another to find it.
Chapter 1
Searching the Aisles
When I go to the grocery store I always search the aisles for what I want. I rarely read the over head aisle markers telling me where I should be. No, I would rather yelp, whine and complain that I cannot find what I am looking for. I will spent a lot of time in searching for the product then spend a few seconds asking for help. Many people in church today are doing the same thing.
I use to work in a grocery store in Lynchburg, Virginia. I remember Kroger’s and working as a bag boy, and then gaining a ten cent raise to become a cashier. I remember having to walk the aisles and spending the time to learn where everything was so I could help the customers when they came into the store. I was proud that I knew everything about that store. I can still remember the set up; (the store has since moved across the street into a newer bigger building) the store sat in a corner of Wards Road and Fort Ave. It had the sliding glass doors sat back in an area that you didn’t walk into the front of the store; you walked in facing down the side of the building. As you came in you were immediately behind the cash registers. As you walked in there use to be a glass bottle return area. When you passed that area you were in the area that had the potatoes and onions. As you got the potatoes and onions you now had to turn left and you were facing down the produce aisle. When you got the end of the produce aisle you were at the end of the store and again turning left you were facing down the back of the store and facing the sandwich meat, meats, and at the end the milk and cheese. Each of the other aisles where set up as most grocery stores are today. The manager’s area was to the left of the registers (as soon as you came in the store). I remember everything about that store. I remember having to type in the amounts of the items being purchased and having to hit the appropriate section of the store (i.e. produce, meat, frozen food, deli. etc…). I remember all of this about a store I worked in over 20 years ago. Knowing the store was critical to the position that I had. I had to adapt to my surroundings, take the time and learn it, and make adjustments to customer needs. Understanding standing the complexity of the job was important when I worked for Kroger. I some how forgot the necessities along the way. After I left the job I no longer cared where anything was in the store. I didn’t have to type in anything on the register. I had left the job and became a consumer!! I expect someone else now to tell me where everything is in the store. I expect to find what I am looking for without working for it.
Today in churches people are very much in the same frame of mind. They want someone else to do all the leg work, they want everything in a neat orderly aisle. When they come in they expect to find everything they are looking for. The church is now becoming a consumer nightmare. Some churches (on local levels) do not offer everything that someone is looking for. Some churches can’t afford the programming of other churches. And so the people who are looking for everything, have for gotten the one thing church is about. The church is not about their comfort zone. The church is not about the many different programs offered. The church is about a community of believers coming together to work toward the advancement of the kingdom of God.
When we look back at what I originally wrote, I will get upset when I can’t find what I am looking for. It does not mean that I am leaving the grocery store to find my convenience elsewhere. I am still faithful in buying my groceries at the same store. I am still faithful in getting gas from the same service station. I am faithful in all my ways and yet people will not be as faithful to a church. They would rather go up and down the aisles searching for specifics instead of being blessed with what is right in front of them.
Chapter 2
The Convenience Store
I like to buy gas at a convenience store. Why, because it is convenient. I can conveniently pull into the gas pump, put in my credit card, and start pumping my gas. I can then receive my receipt right from the pump. Now that is convenience!! However, wouldn’t it be even more convenient if we could go to the convenient store; there they would have someone ready to greet us at the pump; take our credit card and swipe it for us; pump our gas; and then hand us our receipt; while we are waiting for the gas to finish someone else would come out and take our orders for drinks and snacks. This would truly be the convenient store!
When I get my gas I always have to have something to drink. And, for my convenience, the store has a wide assortment of drinks, slushies, juices, milks, and energy drinks. They also have a variety of coffees, hot chocolates, and fake mocha lattes. If I get hungry searching the drinks there is the convenient deli in which I can order anything from a chicken leg to a cheeseburger. I can go and find some potato chips or corn chips to go along with my deli order. I can be conveniently served by this store. It has everything that I have been looking for and is set up in a manner for my convenience. And to think when I went into the store, all I wanted was something to drink.
As I look at the conveniences of the convenient store I can see that I may have someway lost my focus on what I went for. I remember I was running low on gas and had to pull in for gas. I remember that my throat felt parched and I needed a drink, after entering I was no longer just thirsty, I was hungry. I went for gas and left with more than the gas you put in your car. I lost my focus. All I needed was the gas. Sometimes people focus on the conveniences instead of the necessities. I went to get gas and forgot the gas. I have focused on the conveniences, and forgotten the necessities. People in churches today are somewhat focused on the conveniences instead of the necessities.
A convenience is going somewhere and not having to do anything. Church was not made for the convenience of the member. The membership of the church does not read come for your convenience. Yet people are treating church in the same manner they would visit a convenient store. They lose focus on the necessity. The necessity of church is to teach people the truth about Christ. The purpose of the church is to teach people, baptize people, and preach to people. The church is a group of called out individuals coming together to serve one another. This is where the focus gets lost. People forget they are made for service not for being served. There is not one human being on this earth that was made whose priority is self service. Every person ever created was made to serve God.
Service however takes us out of our convenience, and our convenience doesn’t include our working, because then it is no longer convenient. There are a lot of ambitious people in this world. Ambition with out action is absent of an answer. There are many people in church today who want something for everyone and have the ideas yet lack the responsiveness to see it through.
Christianity $19.95
The world today is more and more dependent of consumerism instead of Christianity. People are to busy to do any listening of God’s Word. What they want is an easy way to get it without any hassle. I did a message titled “Christianity for 19.95” and boy did I get a response. There were no in between statements, either people liked it or they didn’t. I heard comments from both sides; “How could want God to charge for Christianity, that’s absurd.” And; “I think he is right, more people may be interested in Christianity if they had to pay for it.” The two sides have valid points, it is absurd to expect God to charge for salvation, and yet people don’t expect something for free. This is the complexity of Christianity. God gives us the greatest gift without a monetary charge.
Today churches have made a radical change from just preaching the Bible. There are more and more churches turning to consumerism. Not consumerism in the form of money but feeding of the senses. Churches today are reaching for the senses of the people more than the salvation of the soul. People are searching for convenience more than they are searching for a place to serve. Church isn’t about the greatest of social meetings; it is not the place to go to have your ears tickled. It is the place that you come to hear the truth.
I have been troubled in watching people who attend church for their convenience. I have seen families come and go because things haven’t gone their way. I have seen people with ambitious ideas without the ambitions to follow through with them. I have seen people leave because they could not handle hearing the truth. Today I see more and more churches feeding egos instead of feeding the soul, and people are eager to go where it is ego filling. I have heard so many feel sorry for my family because the church doesn’t offer this, or the church doesn’t offer that; here is an idea, for people like that, maybe if you would participate in making a difference, and then there would be something to feed everyone. No, it is more convenient to leave than to stay. I am amazed at how many churches are located within a ten mile radius of where I live. I have counted 44 churches, all without a clue on how to grow. I have also seen churches unwilling to spend resources to make a difference. Both attitudes are wrong when it comes to church. I don’t care if the church has a million dollar budget and has to spend it all for the salvation of one soul. ONE SOUL IS WORTH IT ALL!!!! And I don’t care how inconvenient church may be at times, you don’t leave for convenience!! The topic of this paper is how people are treating church like a grocery store. If they don’t find what they like in one store they will go to another to find it.
Chapter 1
Searching the Aisles
When I go to the grocery store I always search the aisles for what I want. I rarely read the over head aisle markers telling me where I should be. No, I would rather yelp, whine and complain that I cannot find what I am looking for. I will spent a lot of time in searching for the product then spend a few seconds asking for help. Many people in church today are doing the same thing.
I use to work in a grocery store in Lynchburg, Virginia. I remember Kroger’s and working as a bag boy, and then gaining a ten cent raise to become a cashier. I remember having to walk the aisles and spending the time to learn where everything was so I could help the customers when they came into the store. I was proud that I knew everything about that store. I can still remember the set up; (the store has since moved across the street into a newer bigger building) the store sat in a corner of Wards Road and Fort Ave. It had the sliding glass doors sat back in an area that you didn’t walk into the front of the store; you walked in facing down the side of the building. As you came in you were immediately behind the cash registers. As you walked in there use to be a glass bottle return area. When you passed that area you were in the area that had the potatoes and onions. As you got the potatoes and onions you now had to turn left and you were facing down the produce aisle. When you got the end of the produce aisle you were at the end of the store and again turning left you were facing down the back of the store and facing the sandwich meat, meats, and at the end the milk and cheese. Each of the other aisles where set up as most grocery stores are today. The manager’s area was to the left of the registers (as soon as you came in the store). I remember everything about that store. I remember having to type in the amounts of the items being purchased and having to hit the appropriate section of the store (i.e. produce, meat, frozen food, deli. etc…). I remember all of this about a store I worked in over 20 years ago. Knowing the store was critical to the position that I had. I had to adapt to my surroundings, take the time and learn it, and make adjustments to customer needs. Understanding standing the complexity of the job was important when I worked for Kroger. I some how forgot the necessities along the way. After I left the job I no longer cared where anything was in the store. I didn’t have to type in anything on the register. I had left the job and became a consumer!! I expect someone else now to tell me where everything is in the store. I expect to find what I am looking for without working for it.
Today in churches people are very much in the same frame of mind. They want someone else to do all the leg work, they want everything in a neat orderly aisle. When they come in they expect to find everything they are looking for. The church is now becoming a consumer nightmare. Some churches (on local levels) do not offer everything that someone is looking for. Some churches can’t afford the programming of other churches. And so the people who are looking for everything, have for gotten the one thing church is about. The church is not about their comfort zone. The church is not about the many different programs offered. The church is about a community of believers coming together to work toward the advancement of the kingdom of God.
When we look back at what I originally wrote, I will get upset when I can’t find what I am looking for. It does not mean that I am leaving the grocery store to find my convenience elsewhere. I am still faithful in buying my groceries at the same store. I am still faithful in getting gas from the same service station. I am faithful in all my ways and yet people will not be as faithful to a church. They would rather go up and down the aisles searching for specifics instead of being blessed with what is right in front of them.
Chapter 2
The Convenience Store
I like to buy gas at a convenience store. Why, because it is convenient. I can conveniently pull into the gas pump, put in my credit card, and start pumping my gas. I can then receive my receipt right from the pump. Now that is convenience!! However, wouldn’t it be even more convenient if we could go to the convenient store; there they would have someone ready to greet us at the pump; take our credit card and swipe it for us; pump our gas; and then hand us our receipt; while we are waiting for the gas to finish someone else would come out and take our orders for drinks and snacks. This would truly be the convenient store!
When I get my gas I always have to have something to drink. And, for my convenience, the store has a wide assortment of drinks, slushies, juices, milks, and energy drinks. They also have a variety of coffees, hot chocolates, and fake mocha lattes. If I get hungry searching the drinks there is the convenient deli in which I can order anything from a chicken leg to a cheeseburger. I can go and find some potato chips or corn chips to go along with my deli order. I can be conveniently served by this store. It has everything that I have been looking for and is set up in a manner for my convenience. And to think when I went into the store, all I wanted was something to drink.
As I look at the conveniences of the convenient store I can see that I may have someway lost my focus on what I went for. I remember I was running low on gas and had to pull in for gas. I remember that my throat felt parched and I needed a drink, after entering I was no longer just thirsty, I was hungry. I went for gas and left with more than the gas you put in your car. I lost my focus. All I needed was the gas. Sometimes people focus on the conveniences instead of the necessities. I went to get gas and forgot the gas. I have focused on the conveniences, and forgotten the necessities. People in churches today are somewhat focused on the conveniences instead of the necessities.
A convenience is going somewhere and not having to do anything. Church was not made for the convenience of the member. The membership of the church does not read come for your convenience. Yet people are treating church in the same manner they would visit a convenient store. They lose focus on the necessity. The necessity of church is to teach people the truth about Christ. The purpose of the church is to teach people, baptize people, and preach to people. The church is a group of called out individuals coming together to serve one another. This is where the focus gets lost. People forget they are made for service not for being served. There is not one human being on this earth that was made whose priority is self service. Every person ever created was made to serve God.
Service however takes us out of our convenience, and our convenience doesn’t include our working, because then it is no longer convenient. There are a lot of ambitious people in this world. Ambition with out action is absent of an answer. There are many people in church today who want something for everyone and have the ideas yet lack the responsiveness to see it through.
