Is busyness robbing you of what is best? Rest in Jesus. Sit at His feet & listen. If there’s no time for that, you are in spiritual trouble. 
What is “Consumeranity”?
A simple equation defines this concept best.
Church + Consumerism – Christ = Consumeranity
Before you read what will follow, I feel compelled to share my heart regarding the Church with you. First and foremost I want you to understand one fundamental thing about me: I love Jesus and His Body…The Church.
There is quite a bit of negative press being written and propagated about the most glorious and grand institution the world has ever seen. I have no intention to add to that particular body of work. It is not my desire to “tear down” that which Christ gave His life to build up.
The Church is the physical presence of Jesus on this earth. When the Bible refers to us as His Body, I do not believe it to be purely metaphorical. There is a reality to be found here.
Christians are His Body. This is a huge statement with unimaginable implications. When our lives line up with the mission of Christ and the local church functions the way God intends, the beauty of Jesus is revealed in a manner that flips the world on end. There is a power to be found within the local church that is unlike any other force ever encountered in this world.
This is precisely why I am so passionate about seeing the church function at its’ fullest potential. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that we are the “salt of the earth”. Christians are meant to add flavor to the world around us and to be used to preserve or keep people from “rotting” on the inside. Unfortunately our saltiness has a tendency to get locked up inside the institution of church. We hide out in our buildings, consume ourselves with program development, and ultimately neglect the very world that so desperately needs “salt”.
To carry the “salt” metaphor a little further, it is my desire that the church be picked up by Jesus and shaken. Sometimes the only way salt can be spread is through being shaken. The discussion of Consumeranity that will follow may shake you up a bit. I hope that it does. You may feel uncomfortable with the generalizations I make and conclusions I jump to. You may even get a little defensive.
The only thing I ask is that when you feel your defenses perk up, examine their motivation. Sometimes we get defensive when we encounter a truth that hurts and we do not want to deal with its’ ramifications. Of course you may get defensive simply because you have not witnessed the evidence that I am using to support my claims regarding Consumeranity. Remember that individual congregations are experiencing varying degrees of this problem. The symptoms are not all the same, but the epidemic is spreading. I have no need for you to agree with me, I just want you to think about the potential ramifications of our current church culture. If all of us begin to think now, there is a far greater chance that we will be committed to the mission of Christ in the future.
This look into Consumeranity is for the church leader, the church go-er, the de-churched, the un-churched, and for anyone who will ever come into contact with Christ’s Church. Change can be initiated from the top down, from the bottom up, from the inside out, or from the outside in. It is my prayer that we will all pay attention and become agents of change.
I agree completely, I just got back from 4 months in Taiwan working in The Home Of God’s Love and orphanage for unwanted babies and children and believe me there is a tremendous need for people to care more about caring for others than caring for their building and activity centers and all that that seems to glamorize Christianity. Jesus was not glamoruos but giving and caring and sharing, I say we sell everything or give it away and give the profits to the missions that are really out there doing all the work. So I am starting with myself, today I started going through all my STUFF and am going to have a huge garage sale since the economy is SOOOOOO bad surely people want to buy things at a bargain now and at almost nothing especially if they know it is going to a good cause right? Keep me in your prayers as I endeavor to do what I feel is necessary to follow God’s will in my life. JC
WOW! I will gladly pray for you. Self is always the place to start. I continually find myself intangled in this trap of “Consumeranity”. It is a vicious cycle that is so difficult to get out of. It is interesting that in our “current church system”, that the churches who do the best job of retaining the Christian consumer are often the ones that give the most away to missions. I believe that there are many generous people and churches, but our system as a whole is flawed. If we removed all of the “trappings”, “packaging”, and “glitzy programing” from any given local church would there still be a viable economic base to support its’ current infrastructure and missions? It is tough to be an agent of change, but it is important. I am encouraged by you to start with myself and encourage others to do the same. Thank you.
Jesus lived and ministered in a very different culture from the one we live in today. He taught in the temple and on the mountaintop. He ministered to those who were dying physically and spiritually whether they were in an open air market,by the gates of a city or at the well. We do not live in such a culture, but there are still those who are spiritually and physically dying. Our question is how do we reach them? Sometimes it is through a sports ministry, a recovery program, a class being offered or something as simple as showing an act of kindness. Can a church become so enamoured with its programs that they forget why or who they are trying to reach…the lost? I hope not, but if we lose sight of ministering to a lost world, we can be just as you described in your “consumeranity” discussion. Can we use the blessings of a giving church to reach out to answer the cries of a lost humanity through particular programs? Yes, we can, as long as we keep the mission Jesus entrusted to us engraved on our hearts to reach the lost and give comfort. Keeping the church grounded to that cause is the task of Godly leaders. Keeping our eyes open to daily opportunities to minister to the poor, the sick, the hurting and the lost is up to each of us who make up God’s church. We have to open the doors of the institutional church, fill it with God’s promises and share that with the community and the world.
Bravo Julia! Well said. Balance…if and when it can be acheived…is lovely. Perhaps the greater question here is how do we remain focused on the mission of Christ while reaching (and living in) a culture that is based on consumerism? I also want to be clear to everyone that I am not against programs, buildings, or excellence in our approaches to ministry. In fact, I tend to believe that the heart behind most of is done in church is good…trying to reach the culture we live in. The problem arises when attractional methodology begins to direct the ship so to speak. Instead of Christ’s mission dictating what we do, we have to become “bigger and better” in order to “keep up” with all of the other churches. There is no doubt that fruit can be produced in this way, but there seems to be some trends arising that ought to cause us to take notice of what is happening in our midst. Good words Julia…very encouraging and challenging. Thank you for adding to the conversation!
I have had a week to think about consumeranity in the church. Doing advertising for 15 years now I come to the same conclusion in regards to this subject and it is always about the product. After all the marketing campaigns, cool websites, clever packaging, cool buildings, and branding taglines it takes us back to the product. Once we have captured a persons attention it comes down to how we represent the product. For us, Christ is the product and we are his agents. We must do everything we can to show what the product is made of. In this case Love, Hope , and Forgiveness, which are the main ingredients. The best thing we can do is demonstrate and share Christ hope with everyone.