Our "fast-food culture" has affected the way we look at things as believers. Last week we looked at the fact that many people have little time or tolerance for the depths of Scripture or a commitment to Christian discipline outside of Church. They just want to grab their order of religion and go.
This week we will look at another product of cheap religious consumerism.
Excuse me, do you work here?
In this religious fast-food culture, church goers are increasingly seeing themselves as consumers. There is a difference drawn between those who are "serving" in some position of the church, and the church attenders who are there to be served. Some churches even have a uniform the workers wear, or a separate dress and conduct code for those "serving."
More and more church members are being categorized by their roles in the church service, defining their spirituality by those roles, and shifting responsibility off the pew-dwellers and onto the people who "work here."
Consumerism draws a sharp division between classes of Christians, and the division is seen as being between those who work at church, and those who shop at church. Therefore the implication is clear: if I don't work here, things are not my responsibility.
Meanwhile those convicted by inactivity scramble to land a job or role at church for fear that they are not pleasing God until they do, and define and validate their Christianity by that role.
Don't get me wrong, there are offices within the church. The Bible puts forward two offices: elders and deacons. However, these office holders are not to be delegated all the responsibilities of the church. They are leaders helping all the members fulfill their shared responsibilities.
Discussion
The subliminal categorization of believers within the church is destructive. Here are some threats this mentality poses to Biblical thinking.
1. Losing a sense of true community
If those who go to church see themselves as consumers here to listen to a sermon, there is no more true community than among people eating at adjacent tables in a diner, or sitting in the next row at a theater. I have been in churches where the members primarily stared up at the platform together, and have felt the loneliness of that. Believers are to have a more significant and interactive relationship than that of acquaintances who sit in the same class together.
2. Undervaluing the body-structure of the church
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul addresses a church that valued certain kinds of Christians above others. Since this is exactly what many of us do today, we should pay attention. Paul explains that different Christians are different and have different functions. The body of Christ is about unity within diversity. Some Christians will be on the stage and some won't. Some will be people who officially "work" at the church and some will not. Not everyone has the flashy gifts or holds the high-visibility offices. God made it that way because that's the way we need it, and we need to love and value all of our faithful brothers and sisters.
3. Shirking our responsibility to one another
Being a church member is a serious task—a high calling not to be looked down upon. You are no more or less of a Christian for having or not having a "task" on Sunday. Even if you aren't in the choir, an usher, or a Sunday School teacher, if you are a believer, you are an important part of your church.
Let's look at just a couple things the New Testament assigns to every believer in the church.
Heb. 10:19-25 – Based upon our access to God provided through the blood of Jesus, believers should draw near to God in their own lives, and stir up each other to love and good works. In other words, the pew-dwellers are responsible for encouraging and admonishing their brothers and sisters in Christ in all matters of sanctification.
Gal. 6:1-5 – Believers must help and uphold one another, restoring transgressors and evaluating their own walk. Because it takes a degree of maturity to deal with certain counseling issues, the passage warns that spiritual people should do this in a particular way. However, all believers are to be pressing on to this maturity as we see in the previous chapter. This does not denote an office-holder.
Eph. 4:1-3 – All believers are to have gospel-filled lives, love one another, and uphold unity in the church. And we find the purpose of leadership later in the discussion in verse 12, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. All the saints are to work. This is their job, and the leadership's primary function is to train them, not to do their work for them.
Under Grace,
John Fritz
John Fritz is the Volunteer Coordinator for Thoughtful Life Ministries and the primary author of the Thoughtful Life Journal, which is published weekly from March through September. The purpose of this blog is to challenge and encourage those who have a desire to cultivate a more meaningful walk with Christ. Visit our Homepage to learn more about the ministry and our annual two-week summer Discipleship Program for teens and young adults.