Not every book on the consumerism and the church includes a chapter on fallen powers. But Paul Metzger’s book Consuming Jesus devotes a healthy section to this topic. Metzger writes, “Sinister forces are at work today, and they have an impact on the church and the broader culture to their very core, which sometimes leads us to lose our wits and discernment.”
We live within a context of consumerism and free-market enterprise. “In a free market church culture,” Metzger writes, “those who cater most to this consumer force thrive best.” Many of our models for church within North American are built around catering to consumer forces. We don’t even question this approach, yet it’s led to class and race divisions, and all kinds of other problems within the church.
Metzger describes how we are blind to a number of diabolical forces that are currently affecting us:
The grapes are sour, said the fox . . .
I’m not sure it’s sour grapes. What he does not see, because he is blinded by the megachurches is what goes on at the bottom. My bible study at work is diverse in terms of class, race, gender, age, , denomination, rank in the company etc. We come together unified around the study of the Word. I think there is much to be said for the critique of the impact of consumerism and I would add pragmatism to the list. Consumerism and pragmatism set up the wrong metrics for the church. More bottoms in the pews does not necessarily mean the church is successful…in biblical terms.
We left ECUSA in August 2003 joined what would be called a “seeker” type church, evangelical, etc. I miss the liturgy, but where we are now has over 2,000 home groups meeting weekly, and we have averaged 7 new believers per week over the past three years. Some may down-play numbers, but these are souls who have been snatched from the enemy. We are know by the fruit, and that does reflect on the Gardener, whether we like it or not.
Two points: first, while there are problems with church-shopping, does Metzger offer an alternative? There is a Church that (sometimes) enforces parish boundaries, but one suspects it would not fulfil Metzger’s other preferences. Second, when decrying “market forces,” critics too often fail to see that markets are driven by decisions made by individuals (lots of them, with enormous variety in resources, preferences, etc). But changing the hearts and minds of individuals is hard, slow work… so the tempting path is to blame “the system.”