I recently wrote an article for Neue Ministry entitled Church Outside the Water – the name is derived from Mike Erre’s newest book Death by Church. Erre argues that the Church’s primary problem in America is not one of rampant sin, corrupt leadership, or mediocre discipleship, but of consumerism. In order to keep up, the Church has to play the game with attractive services, specialized programs, etc.
Consumerism is the world in which we live. In fact, we are so utterly immersed in consumerism and have been for our entire lives we can’t even imagine a world outside of consumerism. To use Erre’s analogy, we are like fish in the water, unaware of the fact that there is anything outside of the water.
I think he’s on to something and I think that for the Church to make the most impact it has to figure out how to stop playing the consumerism game.
What do you think? Any ideas on how the church can stop playing this game? Do you know of any churches that have managed to venture into this territory? What does it look like?
Also, if you’re interested in reading a review I wrote of this book, you can find that here.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Church, Consumerism, Published
