I love this quote from "Blue Like Jazz" by Donald Miller:
"Here are some things I didn't like about the churches I went to. First: I felt like people were trying to sell me Jesus. I was a salesman for a while, and we were taught that you are supposed to point out all the benefits of a product when you are selling it This is how I feel about some of the preachers I heard speak. They were always pointing out the benefits of Christian faith. That rubbed me the wrong way. It's not there aren't benefits, there are, but did they have to talk about spirituality like its a vacum cleaner. I never felt like Jesus as a product. I wanted him to be a person.
Not only that, but they were always pointing out how great the specific church was. I felt like I got bombarded with commercials all week and then went to church and got even more."
I think we all tend to do those things - make Jesus sound like a product rather than a person. We tend to try and "sell" our churches to the guests so they will come back and get excited about what were doing - rather than being drawn to the cross.
3 comments:
I absolutley agree. We can sometimes find ourselves using a very consumer seeking approach to church growth. John MacArthur addresses that to some degree in the introduction to his latest book. He also makes very interesting points about our "corporate" approach to "selling" church.
New reader bouncing in from Cope's blog.
Sobering thought here. We are told that if we lift something up, then someone would draw men to God. I think that would be CROSS and JESUS. I think I needed to read this tonight. Thanks.
Dusty - Yes, I was born and raised in Conway! Go Wampus Cats! (Class of '76) I went to the Robinson & Center Street Church (but don't hold that against me!) I no longer have family there but have ties to people I grew up with. I graduated in 1980 from Harding. I've been here in Salt Lake for almost 13 years. Thanks for writing in! Always good to hear from a fellow Toadsucker! Keep me up to date on the goings on in Conway, will you? How is the church doing there?
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