In a book I read recently, the prism was turned, which allowed me to understand the plight of church attendance in a whole different light. This book, bringing me through the ’50s and into the ’60s and ’70s, captured a phenomenon that began to occur in the Christian community, borrowing from the example of ocean liners and cruise ships.

As innovation began to capture American society and jet travel began to drop in price, many of the ship owners who had owned large ocean liners began to discover that, instead of transporting passengers to destinations, they could convert the ships to cruise lines where the ships themselves were the destination. The author states, “The shift from crossing to cruising was really a shift from transportation to consumption.”

Around the same time, this innovative shift began to occur, and cruise lines began to increase the options of onboard entertainment, making cruise ships a “one-stop destination” for consumers; the church community began to examine and adopt similar innovations.

Many churches, suddenly faced with attendance issues, began to analyze potential reasons for why so many adult Baby Boomers had stopped going to church. They found, to their chagrin, that culture had changed, and with these changes, values in society, which included youth culture, had changed. Moreover, entertainment had become easily accessible, and the church was suddenly faced with multiplexes, shopping malls, and various other venues that could quickly satisfy the heart of novelty.

“Traditional churches, built for utility, struggled, but like some ship owners at the time, entrepreneurial pastors began tinkering to see if a new purpose for the church could be found. What these “pastorpreneurs” found was that people would still attend church in a post-Christian culture if it appealed to their felt-needs. Rather than viewing the church as a vehicle that connected people with God, the innovative pastors made the church into the destination. Put another way, old churches were a means to an end, the new generation of churches were an end in themselves.” (bold mine)

ENTER CONSUMERISM

Suddenly, the church culture began to cater to a consumeristic culture. and “by starting with consumers’ desires for something other than God, this new breed of pastors were mirroring the shift in passenger shipping away from liner voyages to cruising. They were focusing on the church rather than where it was supposed to take you. New jargon was even developed to articulate this shift. The goal was no longer connecting ‘non-believers’ to God, but rather getting the ‘unchurched’ into the building.”

Like cruise ships, pastors began to play on these consumeristic desires and began to add health clubs, coffee shops, bookstores, production studios, recreation centers, and even auto mechanics. Pastors, or as the author labeled them, “pastorpreneurs,” began moving the church from a place of reverence to a place of relevance, and from this consumeristic mindset, the megachurch exploded. In 1970, only 10 megachurches existed, whereas by 2015, nearly 2,000 megachurches proudly dotted the American landscape.

The church was no longer a vehicle to get us to heaven, but the church was a destination in and of itself. The more the church could offer a consumeristic society, the more draw it could have to fill pews that had once stood empty. As more and more churches began to implement this “cruise liner” concept, the United States began to see roughly half of all churchgoers attending the largest 10 percent of churches. In contrast, on average, 50 smaller churches close their doors weekly. What did this reveal to us? Many of these megachurch ideologies, playing into the consumeristic desires of society, “didn’t advance the church in America; it merely consolidated it.”

FROM REVERENCE TO RELEVANCE

Many pastors today feel this tidal wave of consumerism as it bleeds into attendance issues. Many visitors are walking through the doors today, looking for something that satiates a consumer-driven desire more than a heart-sick longing for a relationship with God.

“What does your church offer singles?”

“What does your church offer youth?”

“What does your church offer couples?”

These questions from window-shopping attendees have caused many pastors to buckle to the pressures of consumerism, making the prayer room smaller while making room for coffee shops, game rooms, and lounges.* Now, just as one can “spend all day onboard a cruise ship and never see the ocean,” so can congregants spend all day at church and never see the glory.

UNSINKABLE CHURCHES

Be careful when drawing comparisons between the size of a church and the strength or importance of a church. The Titanic, once viewed as unsinkable, was unable to turn quick enough to avoid the iceberg due to its tremendous size. Many smaller ships could have adjusted, and countless lives could have been saved.

We need to remember the names of many great prophets and preachers who were saved in home missions and/or smaller churches. Men like Lee Stoneking, Verbal Bean, Joe Duke, Ari Prado, Nathaniel Wilson, etc.

Why are so many men of this magnitude found to originate in smaller works? In part, I believe this is due to the culture that often can dominate new or certain smaller works: a culture of hunger, prayer, and a complete reliance on the supernatural. Many of these churches lack the resources to be able to fall prey to the trap of consumerism, instead serving as vehicles to get you to heaven, rather than destinations themselves.

As a church planter about to hit our 7th year since coming to Portland, I have already faced the siren call of consumerism as we have grown and our resources have expanded. Over 150 (if not hundreds) of visitors have come throughout the seven years, and of that great host of visitors, a vast majority approached the church through the lens of this cruise line culture. Very seldom am I asked, “What are the beliefs here?” Instead, “Oh, we are just looking around. We visit multiple churches every month. We are just looking for something that fits our needs.”

Those we have won in seven years have been hungry for change. They arrived, not looking for a program, a coffee shop, a couples Life Group, or some other offering that could easily be found in many churches throughout the Portland Metro. They came looking for an encounter with God and a radical change in their hearts.

FINALLY

Consumerism, while always a constant pull in this society, must not find a place in our sacred culture. I fear that, as a seeker-driven society advances, our churches will continue to fall prey to the demands of that culture where seat capacities become more important than conversions.

Realize that if your church is friendly, powerfully filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, led by a dynamic visionary who is prayerful and anointed, and led by a spirit of excellence and the pursuit of progress, you are in a good place.

Be careful that you don’t arrive at a conclusion that “we aren’t growing as fast as we should” is solely determined by something you are doing wrong. Organic growth takes time and can be relevant to where someone may be. Some fields take longer to plow, and if the farmer lacks experienced help, it can take a bit longer than other fields that may benefit from what is often called “move-in” labor. More hands make the work lighter, and to deny this is to deny reality.

So, let us be careful as we forge ahead. Could you identify consumerism and make sure you are not replacing reverence for relevance? Our churches must still exist as a vehicle and not the destination.

*I am not against these things, but the competitive culture that bleeds from consumerism is easily spotted in today’s modern church culture.