top of page
red yellow and purple abstract painting_edited.jpg

FAITH FUEL

blog

The Consumer Gospel

Unfortunately many times there are those of us (especially who live in Western societies) that tend to think of the good news of Jesus Christ through a cultural lens of consumerism and capitalism. What I mean by this is that we often think of Christianity more in terms of what it can do for us, and what it has to offer us, and that if we are not happy with it we are free to move on and choose something else.


Perceiving the lens in which we see things is unfortunately similar to trying to explain to a fish that it lives in water, we are simply saturated by our culture to the point where it is not perceptible.

This is why for many it is totally acceptable to "church hop" and other such things. Culturally religious methods that are en vogue like deciding which church to attend based solely on the public speaker and how suave or savvy they are, or whether your style of music is performed and to what degree it is performed, or whether the children's ministry suites your taste, or whether the parking lot has any potholes in it or for that matter how close you get to park to the front door. The ways we have reduced the message of Christ to such consumeristic things is pathetic. We treat Jesus, and His bride the church, like a buffet, choosing the parts we like today, leaving the rest.

"We treat Jesus, and His bride the church, like a buffet-choosing the parts we like and leaving the rest."

"Living within the age of authenticity, then, we can make whatever we want of our spiritual experience and moral convictions. We may not even need to be part of a church; technology encourages us to personalize our religious experience, podcast our favorite speakers, plug in a suitable solo worship experience, and attend church simply for the social interaction and romantic prospects. If things don't turn out well, we can always find a new place to worship in the competitive spiritual marketplace." (Divine Sex - Jonathan Grant)

But the message of Christ is not about you. It is not about me. At least not in any way other than we are desperately in trouble and in need to a degree that is difficult for us to fathom. The message of Christ is about His heavenly Father, the Creator of all things, and His righteous justice being diverted from you and I through Jesus.

So the next time you walk into a church, instead of thinking about the things that it can do for you and how well you think it is doing them, why don't you think of a risen Lord and Savior that loves you beyond any understandable measure, and may that motivate you and I not to consume church like we do entertainment, but to roll up our sleeves and follow the one that Loves us beyond measure and serve and love others as He came not to be served but to serve (c.f. Mrk 10:45).



bottom of page