How to avoid becoming a religious shopkeeper
At the start of Jason Clark’s dissertation is a question from Dan Kimball, referenced again in Clark’s fifth chapter. Kimbal asks the question, “Have we, over time and with good intentions and pure motivations, turned our churches into vendors of religious services and goods?”[1]
This is the jumping off point for Clark’s research, and the exploration quickly takes the reader into deep waters such as the symbiotic connection between Evangelicalism and free market enterprise (Bebbington), the “chicken-egg” question of Protestantism and capitalism (Weber), and the history, ubiquity, and ultimate potential tragedy of the economic culture the church currently swims in (Polanyi). But, regardless of how deep (or murky) the water of this research got, my thoughts kept drifting back to that first question, and now after getting a high-level view of the “maps” that provided its context, I was happy to return to the question itself.
That question did not appear in Vincent Miller’s book “Consuming Religion”, but the book seemed to be pointing me back to it again and again. Soon after I started to read Miller’s book, I got the sense that there was a double meaning involved in the title, and that both meanings underscored Kimball’s inquiry:
The first meaning is that the current state of the church often reflects a religion that becomes consumed as commodification—that congregants are consuming their religion. This reminds me of Eugene Peterson’s frequent theme (found expanded in his books Working the Angles, The Pastor, and others) that pastors must be careful to avoid becoming religious shopkeepers who “keep the budget growing, the building improving, and the congregation busy.”[2]
Being a dispenser of religious goods and services is easy to do[3], Peterson suggests, because we “swim” in a culture where people expect to get what they want or need out of their church experience to add to their lives, without considering the call to surrender their will, sacrifice their desires, and have transformed lives that are found in Christ alone.
But if Christians have turned religion into a cafeteria where they choose what they want to eat, and leave the rest, the inverse is also true. The second meaning of the title Consuming Religion is that the religion (church) itself has come to consume the congregants, who have been turned into commodities.
And while it’s easy to use “religion” as a catch all, I’m really pointing my finger at pastors, of which I am one.
I’ve often decried the fact that social media companies have turned me into a commodity: The app (Facebook, Instagram, tic-toc) is not the product, my attention is the product that the apps are selling. This didn’t start with social media. The retail/marketing machine has long been vying for our attention, interest, money, and influence.
Unfortunately, I have sometimes, unknowingly (hopefully “with good intentions and pure motivations”) done the same thing with the people I shepherd, and those who are yet to join our church.
- Whenever I think about the conglomerated crowd numbers instead of individual souls…
- Whenever I consider what a ‘giving unit’ (individual or family) might financially contribute to the mission…
- Whenever I make a ministry decision because it will make more people happy rather than being what will help more people draw closer to God…
Whenever that happens, I am part of the problem—I have turned the attention or participation or resources of the congregation I serve into a commodity to be consumed.
The prophet Jeremiah has a lot to say to those shepherds who butcher the flock for their own benefit. Modern pastors (including me) would be wise to heed his warning.
So, what’s the answer? To that I turn back to Peterson who, in his book Working the Angles, suggests that a way to resist the siren song of religious commodification is to pay attention to three basic pastoral acts: Prayer, scripture, and spiritual direction. These, he submits, are the angles that make up the triangle of faithful pastoral ministry. These draw pastors, and the people they serve, back towards a Christian imagination that counteracts culture’s call.
Like Peterson, Miller doesn’t seem to be suggesting that there is no way to live Christianly in a consumeristic culture. He thinks its achievable to live “a more authentically Christian life in a culture that is neither entirely Christian in its logic nor entirely alien.” [4] Instead of painting a dystopian picture of an anemic Christianity that has lost all impact, I think Miller is advocating for a shaping of a Christian imagination, rooted, and expressed in practice, that provides an alternative to the unthinking commodification that has overtaken the world.
In the end, I feel like I have just scratched the surface of this topic and being exposed to it has uncovered so many questions. Today my question is this: Eugene Peterson only ever pastored a church of 300 and he worked very hard for decades to shape the Christian imaginations of the congregation he served. Is it possible to “scale up” this effort to a church of 3,000, or 30,000? Or is the phrase “scaling up” itself a tip-off to how I think more like the SRM (Self Regulating Market) than the KOG (Kingdom of God)?
[1] Jason Clark, Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, 1 (Quoting Dan Kimball’s The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generations).
[2] http://www.brianghedges.com/2005/09/book-review-working-angles-by-eugene-h.html.
[3] Eugene Peterson, Working the Angles; the Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1993), 2.
[4] Vincent Miller, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture (New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003), 15.
About the Author
Tim Clark
I'm on a lifelong journey of discovering the person God has created me to be and aligning that with the purpose God has created me for. I've been pressing hard after Jesus for 40 years, and I currently serve Him as the lead pastor of vision and voice at The Church On The Way in Los Angeles. I live with my wife and 3 kids in Burbank California.9 responses to “How to avoid becoming a religious shopkeeper”
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Tim,
I love that you named these things. You share,
“*Whenever I think about the conglomerated crowd numbers instead of individual souls…
*Whenever I consider what a ‘giving unit’ (individual or family) might financially contribute to the mission…
*Whenever I make a ministry decision because it will make more people happy rather than being what will help more people draw closer to God…
Whenever that happens, I am part of the problem—I have turned the attention or participation or resources of the congregation I serve into a commodity to be consumed.”
This is what the seeds of change look like. You name it and see the issue with it. I keep looking for a gleamer of hope and your post gives it to me. I wonder, was it difficult naming this behavior?
I appreciate your reference to Peterson’s work. His suggestion to adhere to the three basic pastoral acts: Prayer, scripture, and spiritual direction seems like a good place to start when trying to resist the lure of filling the seats and working to keep the “big” givers happy.
Jonita, thanks for the question. It’s really not difficult anymore to name the behavior or attitude when I recognize it… the difficult thing is seeing it in the first place. I’ve long since given up on thinking I do everything right or even have the right motivation for whatever I do… I’m in a zone now in my life where if I can see it, confess it, and change it, that makes me happier than insisting that I was doing it right in the first place.
I love this, “I’m in a zone now in my life where if I can see it, confess it, and change it, that makes me happier than insisting that I was doing it right in the first place.” Thank you for sharing this insight. I actually quoted you in a conversation that I had last night. I am thankful for this shared space to dialogue with you.
Thanks Jonita. I’m also grateful we get to have this conversation. I’m learning so much from everyone.
Tim, I liked your post. As a member of “the flock” I appreciate hearing shepherds grappling with the difficult tensions we face living “in and not of the world.”
I grew up in REALLY small churches and have just recently started attending a REALLY big church, and have wondered myself at similar questions regarding faithfulness to the main mission of the church while gathering all the necessary resources to just keep things going. I don’t know.
Is it too simplistic to suggest that the three strategies of “Prayer, scripture, and spiritual direction” are not also the same three you would use for answering your conundrum about scaling up? Is it a question of what is God’s intention for you, your church, and its community? Is it safe to say there is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution (which feels mass produced to me) but instead going for an approach customized for that place, time and people?
I think that is so important, that we don’t look for a one size fits all mass produced solution but seek God’s unique bespoke design for each congregation.
In fact, I think too many ‘big-box churches’ (my designation for megachurches) are happy with off-the-shelf programs and processes without wrestling through the implications; and that gets us in trouble and creates the commodification we should seek to avoid.
Hi Tim,
Great post. You wrote, “Instead of painting a dystopian picture of an anemic Christianity that has lost all impact, I think Miller is advocating for a shaping of a Christian imagination, rooted, and expressed in practice, that provides an alternative to the unthinking commodification that has overtaken the world.”
Amen.
I see his book as the proverbial “shot across the bow.” A warning like Clark’s to get our homework in on time.
A good reminder…but I would suspect that those in the cohort have their priorities focused on Him, rather than the business of Him.
Shalom…
Tim, I’m so glad you kept referencing Eugene Peterson’s life and writings. Like my mom, he is a figure that has passed away and I deeply miss.
Perhaps it’s because they both valued relationships. They both loved Jesus’ church with all its warts and blemishes. They both found joy in the simple moments – laughter over a meal, a smile between friends, and expressing the life of Jesus in very non-sexy ways.
I find myself returning back to the writings of Peterson when I see my heart and the organization I lead getting too big for it’s britches (a Mom phrase), or when I feel like I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off (another Mom phrase).
Thanks for the warm reminders, Tim.
John…. this is it:
“Perhaps it’s because they both valued relationships. They both loved Jesus’ church with all its warts and blemishes. They both found joy in the simple moments – laughter over a meal, a smile between friends, and expressing the life of Jesus in very non-sexy ways.”
Too long for a tattoo, but if we could make that the defining reality of our lives, I think we’d make it to the end much better, much more joyful, and much healthier pastors leading much healthier churches.
Thanks, friend. (And I miss your mom, too).