The Costs of Consumerism
The data is in and it’s not pretty. The number of admirers of Jesus is growing while the number of church attenders is shrinking.
For those who do attend, determining factors for church choice are based on what is offered to its membership rather than what is expected from its membership. Convenience is prioritized while commitment is minimized.
The consumerism that is firmly entrenched in American culture at large has strongly taken root in the American church, and it has taken a heavy toll on the challenge Jesus calls us to embrace.
In short, the consumerism that is firmly entrenched in American culture at large has strongly taken root in the American church.
And it has taken a heavy toll on the challenge Jesus calls us to embrace. Discipleship characterized by the words, “pick up your cross and follow me” has become a rarity in our day.
Discipleship characterized by the words, “pick up your cross and follow me” has become a rarity in our day.
Where did this begin? How did we end up here? And, most important of all, what can be done about it?
Over the next few posts, I’d like to lean hard into this issue. But first, a bit of history.
The Rise of the Attractional Church
In the 1970s the Baby Boomers were coming of age. They had come out of a decade of immense social and political upheaval. At the same time, they were questioning the role of religion in the new cultural landscape.
Breaking free from the constraints of dry denominationalism and empty ritual, a new strategy was offered in the early 80’s as an alternative. It was labeled “the seeker movement.”
Recognizing that traditional loyalty and historic commitment were at an all-time low and that ecclesiastical suspicion and skepticism were at an all-time high, these churches intentionally downplayed the call to commitment and enthusiastically highlighted the provision of spiritual goods and services.
Attenders were not asked to give anything, do anything, or commit to anything. Such churches were like spiritual shopping malls which offered everything to everyone.
According to author Skye Jethani, the logic was simple:
“If Baby Boomers did not feel the need to connect with God, perhaps another felt need would draw them into the church. While they consumed the upbeat music, creative dramas, support groups, and helpful sermons, the hope was that they would find God.”
Strikingly, in many respects, the strategy worked. This attractional model drew multitudes into the church, many for the first time in their lives.
Thousands of people got saved. Moreover, interest in evangelism soared. “Lost people matter to God!” became the mantra. And, for many, it served to be motivation to bring others to church, hoping that they would also come to faith.
The Hidden Costs of Attractional Church
Over the years, however, an unexpected downside to this strategy began to surface. There were hidden costs to this culture of consumerism in the church.
Here are just a few.
Cost #1 – a self-perpetuating cycle of more
It has rightly been said, what you win them by, you have to keep them with.
Alan Hirsch captured it well:
“Win them with entertainment, and you have to keep them there by entertaining them. For a whole lot of reasons, this commitment got harder year after year. We ended up creating a whip for our own backs.”
Better goods and services became expected. The unstated yet understood belief among overworked church leaders was, “If we don’t offer more options and make things more appealing, people will leave and go someplace where they will get it.”
“Win them with entertainment, and you have to keep them there by entertaining them. For a whole lot of reasons, this commitment got harder year after year. We ended up creating a whip for our own backs.” – Alan Hirsch
Cost #2 – a faulty definition of discipleship
Theologian Eugene Peterson wrote insightfully about this:
“The quickest and most effective way to get them into our congregations was to identify what they want and offer it to them, satisfy their fantasies, promise them the moon, recast the gospel in consumer terms: entertainment, satisfaction, problem solving, whatever…(But) this is not the way in which we become less and Jesus becomes more.”
Instead of the Church becoming a place where the people of God were “equipped for works of service,” it became a place where felt needs could be met. Instead of becoming a launchpad where ordinary disciples could be sent into the world, the church became one of escape from the world.
Cost #3 – a warped view of God
As this “consumer-centered” approach to church took hold, it led to an even scarier outcome: a narrow, “consumer-centered” view of God.
God came to be seen as the Almighty Vending Machine – one who specialized in meeting needs, not making demands. In the words of one observer, He was reduced to a “combination of divine butler and cosmic therapist.”
In the end, Consumer Christianity becomes a self-serving religion; a recipe for spiritual disillusionment, and a formula for shallow faith.
In the end, Consumer Christianity becomes a self-serving religion; a recipe for spiritual disillusionment, and a formula for shallow faith.
Cost #4 – a shallow faith
With no sacrifice called for and no hardship allowed for, when adversity and difficulty hit, there was no capacity to handle it.
Those who had known nothing but having their needs met at all times and in all ways were shocked and stunned when life got hard. Some never got over it and left the church, disillusioned that their faith “had not worked.”
But there’s one more cost, and it’s even more painful.
Cost #5 – a lost generation
The old adage fits well here: “What adults do in moderation, their children do in excess.”
The passive attendance of the current generation has resulted in active un-attendance by the next generations. While their parents enjoyed the benefits of going to church, their children saw no need for it.
As a result, according to one study, only 2 out of 10 millennials believe church attendance is “important or worthwhile.” At the same time, nearly 40% of millennials consider themselves “Religiously Unaffiliated.”
Additionally, members of Gen Z (the generation currently leaving high school) are twice as likely to identify as atheists than the general population.
In short, we’re losing our kids.
we’re losing our kids.
Reason for hope.
You might think I would be discouraged. But I’m not. Though sobered, I’m strangely hopeful.
I’ve noticed a quiet – but growing – trend of young (and older) Christians asking serious questions about their faith and its role in society and culture. And there are a lot of churches that are daring to imagine a new way (which, in reality, is a return to the old ways) in which to deepen and develop disciples.
So how about you? What about your church? Is your church paying the price for consumerism?
The place to start is to take a painfully honest assessment of what is. Be brutally honest. It may well sting a bit.
Yet, the discontent which results can fuel the hope of what could be.
In my next post, I want to share with you a bit of my own pilgrimage toward change. However, for now, I would be curious about some of the costs of consumerism that you’ve seen.
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