167: How Consumerism is Killing the Church
A new(er) building. The nicer children’s ministry wing. The best preacher. Comfy seats and a great band. Many Christians approach their churches, and their faith, as consumers. Even the term “church shopping” betrays the reality of our spiritual consumerism.
This week on the Lifeschool Podcast, we expose and articulate the ways that consumerism is killing the church today. And how you can identify and stop it in your own life and church.
We think that the problem with our lagging “spiritual fervor” may be a problem with our church.
That’s why we start “shopping around”. But we are the church–you and I–so moving our family to another spiritual mall across town only brings the same issues and problems with us. And when that doesn’t solve the issue beyond the first month or two, we slide further into a spiritual boredom.
We may have been chasing the wrong tail all along, and our churches trained us to do so...
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- A startling and familiar definition of consumerism that will alarm you.
- 3 examples of how consumerism can creep into our ways of thinking about church.
- What Jesus teaches about consumerism and materialism.
- Ways that your church can stop feeding the consumerism beast.
From this episode:
“When we approach our Christian faith, experience and responsibilities as consumers rather than seeing it as an all-encompassing way of life, a lifestyle… and a fully interpretive set of beliefs and values, then our church and Christianity becomes just one more brand or product we consume along with Amazon, Apple, Starbucks, Facebook… and all too deeply, it’s how we express our identity too.”
Each week the Big 3 will give you immediate action steps to get you started.
Download today’s BIG 3 right now. Read and think over them again later. You might even want to share them with others…
Thanks for Listening!
Thanks so much for joining us again this week. Have some feedback you’d like to share? Join us on Facebook and take part in the discussion!
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of this page or right below.
Also, please leave an honest review for The Lifeschool Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and we read each and every one of them.
Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Free Download of the Big 3 For Episode #167
Missio Publishing – More Missional Books and Resources
Caesar Kalinowski’s Website and Blog with Loads of Resources
In light of today’s topics, you might find this video helpful:
