It's The Consumerism, Stupid
Why All Forms of American Church Have Become Products
In America, anything that can be commodified will be.
I once said, “America is not a country. It’s an economy.” In a very strong sense, all countries are economies. “The economy” serves, and has served historically, as the reason behind all manner of wars, oppression, slavery, and injustice. Economics are the way societies are organized. For instance, read the writings of southern succeeders at the time of the American Civil War. In their own writings they claim to fight to maintain “their economy,” which they view as tantamount to their “way of life.” The American Revolution, too, was strongly about “the economy.” King George was at war all over the world and expecting the colonies to fund his colonialism. At the same time, by comparison, Americans were living high on the hog and many Brits felt they weren’t paying their fare share as British citizens.
The average American refuses to see, reflect on, or analyze how economic impulses and our desire for comfort is at the heart of much of what we do. The ancient spiritual teachers taught mostly about the three great temptations of humanity — money, sex, and power. When we rightfully deal with these three temptations, we deal with 95% of the sinful urges and behaviors which plague us.
I say all this to address the state of the modern church. A church sinfully burdened by our inclinations to idolize the market and economics.
