Market-Driven Church

On July 31st, Todd Wilken over at Issues, Etc. interviewed an Orthodox priest (Father John Parker) on the subject of the market-driven church. Here are some paraphrases and quotes I thought were poignant.

• The motivation for pastors in American Evangelicalism to give church members a choice of worship styles/options on Sunday morning stems from 1) the noble goal of fulfilling the Great Commission and bringing/attracting as many people as possible to church and 2) out of a fear of being exclusive and saying there is one way of worshipping that is biblical.
• The essence of Christianity is the laying aside of my wants, preferences, desires, my wants, and being conformed to the image of God. If we are demanding choice, we have not yet laid our will aside.
  The church is not capitalistic, the church is not democratic; the church is Christ.
• The time and place for being “relevant to the people” is not at the chief worship service for Christians. That’s perfect for Wednesday night, for Tuesday morning Bible study, for an all-day Saturday program. Christians for centuries have gathered on Sunday morning to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, not to be convinced that He is Lord.
• As a Christian, I have to compare myself, so to speak, to Jesus Christ and the Word of God, which is the mirror into which I’m to look. And where I don’t match, I have to change.
• The more choice you give people, the more choice they demand. Our sinful nature almost obliges us to desire to do it my way.

The following quote from Parker’s recent article in Touchstone magazine summarizes what the market-drivin church looks like:

The marketed church offers just what everyone wants: the music I want (or don’t), the time I want, the length of service I want, the type of language I want, the style of music I want, the amount of intimacy and responsibility I want, and in some cases, even the pastor I want. But is the gospel a message about the satisfaction of wants?