“The customer is always right” is a business moto we have all heard. We, as consumers, have become more powerful with the popularity of social media. Back in the 1900’s, a business did not have to worry about a disgruntled customer. Who were they going to tell? Now, Fortune 500 companies have been forced to make big changes in their business models because of what customers posted with their phones. Hello, United Airlines! These companies have also been able to use the media outlets to market and fine-tune their products to the consumers in almost “real-time.” The power of the consumer has grown to drive change in a more profound way.
How has consumerism affected religion? In one way, families are “shopping” for churches to attend. They want the one that fits their family needs. Theology and how a particular group teaches or if they teach truth has become of secondary or tertiary importance to the perceived needs of the family unit. We are no longer looking for truth. We are looking for what we can get out of it. Churches are picking up on this and are marketing their religious groups to those who are shopping. The pulpit gets softer, the music gets louder and lines in the sand get replaced with broad ideas of acceptance in the name of God’s grace. The consumer is always right, and God, well, He understands.
When it is brought down to its most basic element, consumer Christianity isn’t anything new. It’s just packaged differently. The Bible talks about it this way. “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Rom. 16:17-18). “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things” (Phil. 3:17-19).
Those who follow their appetite rather than the pattern are consumers. If I make worship about what I get out of it instead of what I am offering to God, I am a consumer. If I make my service to Him about who sees me doing it on social media instead of genuine service, I am a consumer. If the church must serve me and my needs instead of me looking out for my neighbor, I am a consumer. The cry of the consumer in judgment will be, “Didn’t we #feedthepoor and didn’t we #praiseJesus!” He will say, “I never knew you.”