If the church is the body of Christ, then the megachurch is like an athlete on steroids.
Every major city has a bevy of churches drawing between 5k-25k people. To get a body to grow that big leaders have to use some sort of performance enhancer. These things””typically models, strategies, and techniques gleaned not from the gospel or the Christian narrative, but from the world of business and the narrative of consumer capitalism””serve as performance enhancers that help create enormous congregations with huge facilities and hundreds of programs.
The impact of these practices is akin to using performance-enhancing drugs. They actually alter the form and function of the body, causing real and serious long-term consequences for the church universal.
Or maybe this is what the active Church is supposed to be like:
“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” (Acts 2:41)
The mega churches I know promote small groups and home bible studies. The members are involved in lay ministry and care for each other. There are programs to address the real needs of the congregation. I know that this seems strange to the author. Alos, TEC has come up with a model for shrinking the church which has proved very successful.