And so What of the Fate of Religion?
Miller, Vincent Jude. Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture. New York: Continuum, 2004.
Summary:
We often don’t take the time to stop and notice it, but if we listen carefully, we will hear a constant song playing in the background of our everyday lives. Someone said it like this, “we are either buying something or being sold something.”
It seems a bit pessimistic, but there are positives. One positive is the abundance of available goods that can make life more pleasant and healthy. Another is the ability to choose among a variety of options, from shoes to cars to cans of baked beans. In fact, in a consumer based society, choice and customer satisfaction are the ultimate economic goal and the customer is sovereign king![1]
This setting illuminates the path to Miller who asserts that in a consumer culture the greater social world has more of an impact on the consumer than do a clearly defined set of values including religious beliefs and practices.[2] The consumer culture has made us self-centered and focused on our immediate pleasure. When the joy’s gone, we move on.[3] In a consumer culture religion, faith and beliefs become a commodity to be packaged, advertised, purchased, consumed and purchased all over again.[4] In Miller’s words, “this in not a book about religion against consumer culture; it is a book about the fate of religion in consumer culture.”[5] And so what of the fate of religion?
Application:
I remember the difficult transition I had when returning home after five years of being outside of the country. One of the most difficult aspects of the transition was the consumer aspect. I quickly realized that in that five-year period, I had lost much of my skill in being a savvy consumer. I found myself being taken advantage of as if we were in a country where we didn’t speak the language—AGAIN! One of the more notable moments was when my wife and I walked into a superstore and were so overwhelmed by the choices, that we left the cart in the middle of the aisle and rushed out of the store. We laugh about it now, but it was a defining experience for us—we saw our own culture through different lenses.
I was also impressed by the changes in the church. The music had changed. The worship changed, the dress had changed, the way in which churches were set up had changed. Can you believe—some of the churches didn’t even use a pulpit anymore!! (Smiling)
I asked one of my closest pastor friends what happened. What did I miss? What occurred in those few short years that motivated congregations to change how they worship and in some cases, who they were? I remember him eluding to fierce competition and the many choices in churches. His words are reminiscent of our superstore experience.
It would seem that at this point that I would move into a polemic about the state of the church in the Western world. But I can’t. Yes, we are disconnected and often self-centered. Yes, we commodify life, experience and sometimes faith. It’s easy to bemoan what the Church has become and miss what the Church is. The culture will always impact the church. Every generation has its challenges, and its answers, and its culture. Yes, we need to do better! However, I don’t remember a time in my life where the Church was doing more, feeding more, helping more, evangelizing more than it is now. We don’t always get it right, but very few cultures do. And so what of the fate of the Church? It has nothing to do with fate. God is greater than culture, and so not even a consumer culture can prevent God from building His church.
- Goodwin, N, J. Nelson, F. Ackerman, and T. Weisskopf. “Consumption and the Consumer Society.” Global Development and Enviroment Institute (2008), 1.
- Miller, Vincent J. Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture. Bloomsbury Academic, 2005, 27.
- Ibid., 85.
- Ibid., 2.
- Ibid., 1.
About the Author
Jim Sabella
18 responses to “And so What of the Fate of Religion?”
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Amen Jim! Preach it. Yes, I agree that the church is doing volumes of work more than ever and nothing can stop the Kingdom of God from making its’ way to earth. Such a beautiful reminder. Thank you for that inspiration.
Your story about you and your wife leaving your cart and walking out of the store due to your overwhelming choices is great. I feel that way when picking out dog treats for my dog! I usually give up due to all the choices and how to pick a healthy snack for her. The product choices for our pets is unreal.
Thank you for your positive, real and humorous post.
Thanks Jennifer. I just read an article about the recent closing of the first K-Mart Store ever opened. It was opened in 1962! We’re still buying as much or more but in a different way and there are definitely more choices than ever before. I still wonder what it means to be a good consumer. Does it mean buy more, buy more wisely or buy less? The choices are still overwhelming! 🙂
Jim, your post reminds me of the story of missiologist Lesslie Newbigin. He and his wife left Scotland in 1936 to become missionaries in India. When they returned to the U.K. in 1974, they was shocked to see how the West had become post-Christian. He wrote extensively on the subject.
You probably know this story, but it highlights the point that you made. Returning missionaries can have a valuable perspective on changes in the church. With the old “Frog in the Kettle” illustration in mind, returning missionaries can more readily identify changes in the church (and society at large).
http://www.tyndale.ca/seminary/inministry/reading-rooms/newbigin
Thanks Stu. I try to read Newbigin as much as I can. Haven’t had the chance lately—for some reason! 🙂 I try to explain it like this. You see your nephew when he is born. But then you don’t see him again for another 20 years. They introduce him as your nephew; he looks very familiar, but in the end, you still can’t believe how he’s changed. Thanks for the excellent link to Newbigin’s writings. Great resource!
A very enjoyable post Jim. I don’t think Miller is overly pessimistic in his thesis, but he does write about the importance of identifying and naming the commodification of religion so that we can begin to administer the antidote. It reminds me of Jim Collins’ “Confront the brutal facts but maintain a vital sense of optimism.” Your post does that I think.
Thanks Geoff. You’re right I don’t sense that Miller is too overly pessimistic. It is difficult though—at least for me—to remain optimistic while reading “Consuming Religion.” I think that’s why I made a conscious effort to reflect on the church of today and recount the great things that are happening. Excellent advice—“Confront the brutal facts but maintain a vital sense of optimism.” Thanks Geoff.
“However, I don’t remember a time in my life where the Church was doing more, feeding more, helping more, evangelizing more than it is now. ”
Yes, amen, brother Jim!!
And here is the conundrum – the way things are set up it takes money to send all those goods to the poor. And as Christian stewards do we want to go back to not having anything to share with the poor? This takes me back to Weber. The Puritans shared their excess.
Another paradox, if we can purchase more Bibles more inexpensively thanks to the division of labor, should we think of that as negative?
Thank you for bringing us back to the main point, God is building His church. Amen.
Thanks Mary. You are right there are many conundrums(a) and paradoxes. For me, there is always that struggle to find a balance between meeting a need and having the resources. That money thing keeps getting in the way. I have seen resources come from out of nowhere. One moment you look and their’s nothing and the next moment the resources are there—like mushrooms popping up in the middle of the night. I don’t know how it works exactly, but I’ve seen and experienced the provision of God in many areas of my life and ministry. It’s a journey that includes a great amount of faith! Like Frodo, I’m glad I’m not on the journey alone. Did I mention I’m a Lord of the Rings fan? 🙂 Thanks Mary.
Yes Jim you are correct the mission of God will never be stopped or superseded by culture! Consumerism may be have a major hold or influence on how we engage in society everyday but we must remember who holds our future! Thank you for the reminder! 🙂
Thanks Christal. You make an excellent point: “Consumerism may have a major hold or influence on how we engage in society everyday but we must remember who holds our future!” Consumerism has a major hold on our society but not on every society in the world. And yet those believers in those cultures struggle with the influence of the culture in which the live. I’m a firm believer that every culture has its king! The words He is King of Kings take on a whole broader meaning when we include culture in the equation. Thanks Christal.
Jim, what a wonderful, hopeful and forward looking post…. It reminded me of something I heard a missionary say (I have actually heard many missionaries say this) – that when they go somewhere, they are very conscious of the fact that God is already there – and has been there. They are not bringing God with them…… Our culture is broken and messed up and commodified, but God is at work and the victory is already won!
Your words have encouraged me to be reinvigorated by the ‘competition’ in our current religious environment to be and do our best for God.
Thanks!
Thanks for your encouragement Chip. As I mentioned to Geoff, for me it is hard to read Miller without going to the dark side. I’ve worked in other cultures with people from many cultures. When we enter into another culture we all carry our god with us in a box. Ours happens to be money. We think it is the greatest gift and can solve all problems. As believers we know that’s not true. Money was never meant to be a god, it’s a tool. It just so happens that in our culture we worship a hammer! 🙂 I agree with you 100%: “God is at work and the victory is already won!” Thank you Chip.
Jim, I, too, walked out of a superstore shortly after my return to America. And after nearly ten years of being back here, I still get (physically) stressed out in big box stores and prefer small markets that offer only one or two options for items. When I shop at the same small store each week, I’ve gotten to know the cashier whose line I always choose (once she was so excited to see me, she gave me a welcome hug!)
Likewise, I also prefer smaller churches that aren’t seeking to grow through competition and suave advertising, but through relationship building. I don’t think I’m a very good American when it comes to consuming. But I tend to judge those who choose the flashy-light churches, so I am incredibly thankful for your final paragraph, calling me to remember that God can (even) work through churches like that. Thanks friend.
Thanks Katy. I hear ya; I still get overwhelmed by the choices! I was in a grocery store in PA and there were three aisles of potato chips. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of potato chips. Most people know what kind they like and walk right to it and off they go. I’m analysing how they can all be so different and usually end up buying the one I saw on the commercial!
I like all size churches, each for their own reasons. What I think I look most for in a church big or small is authentic friendliness.
I love your perspective, Jim!
How strange it must have been to step back into US culture. I was talking with someone yesterday who missed the first five years of the iPhone/Facebook/Twitter “revolution” in the U.S. and he and his wife experienced such extreme culture shock that they struggled with settling in. His kids felt like outsiders, even in church. They weren’t used to the slick, polished worship “sets” or the people taking notes on their phones. Those aren’t necessarily bad things, he said, but they were distractions they didn’t have on the mission field.
What kinds of things do you think the the US church could afford to give up/simplify in order to resist distracting consumerism while still doing the great things we are doing?
Thanks Kristin! I think feeling like an outsider is a great way to express the feeling—reverse culture shock.
You ask a challenging question: “What kinds of things do you think the US church could afford to give up/simplify in order to resist distracting consumerism while still doing the great things we are doing?”
I think you state the key when you use the word “simplify.” I do believe that since the end of the 80’s the church has been moving in that direction. And there is a new generation of believers who are looking to simplify even more. When I look at the 20 something generation I have great hope in my heart. They are not without their challenges, but they seek authentic relationship on a deeper level than certainly my generation has. I think the more we can simplify and move toward a stronger authentic relationship, the less we will desire things that fill the void—if only for a moment. The churches (big and not so big) that are simplifying and calling for authentic relationship are the ones that have the greatest potential to impact a generation. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it! 🙂
Jim
I understand what you are saying. I believe that instead of changing how we worship we need to incorporate styles of worship that address our congregants and encourages them to participate.
Our church was built on anthems, hymns, and spirituals. Years later to meet the needs of our congregants we added gospel songs.
Thanks Lynda. You make a good point, styles of worship are important. It maybe even more so in a consumer culture where choice is everything. Appreciate your comments Lynda.