Church attendees are exposed to a consumer way of seeing the church. Coffee aroma flows the foyer as the light show, and concert-like worship hit the stage. Lights, camera, action and the show begins.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, religion has\u00a0become a victim of the consumer mindset to feed desire rather than faith itself. It seems that \u201cwhen consumption becomes the dominant cultural practice, belief is systematically misdirected from traditional religious practices into consumption\u2026Traditional practices of self-transformation are subordinated to consumer choice.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n Now with this concept being \u201cthrown into a cultural marketplace where they can be embraced enthusiastically but not put into practice\u201d[3]<\/a> it has become an uncomfortable stance between spreading the gospel and secular systematic desensitization. \u00a0Though this term often associated with a phobia; however the root of desensitization is the process of making an individual insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent[4]<\/a>, for the sake of this blog the agent is religion. Individuals introduced to the consumer way of viewing religion which eventually becomes desensitized to the practices of the faith and deemed those practice unnecessary, outdated and unimportant. Thus, \u201cdesensitization blurs the lines between Godliness and ungodliness, good and evil, normal and abnormal, natural and unnatural, true and false.\u00a0 It turns everything into shades of gray, even as it turns thought inward, rather than outward.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n In 1999 Dogma, an indie film hit the mainstream, and one of the most memorable\u00a0props in the movie was Buddy Unfortunately, this is only one example of\u00a0commodification and consumerism of religion. Look around and shades of gray of \u201cconsuming religion) overwhelm Facebook Christian product ads, commercials, prime time television and the music of today.<\/p>\n Understanding there is a need to discover new and innovative\u00a0ways of reaching people for the sake of the gospel but where do we draw the line in\u00a0the sand to keep what is sacred, sacred and cause the change to \u201canother\u2019s life and, in turn, the world\u201d?[6]<\/a> The desire to find a balance between innovation with limited consumerism is necessary to \u201cmove people to achieve something greater and more enduring than merely an exchange.\u201d[7]<\/a> How do we now bring awareness or a renewed admiration for the religion in which we serve to a world that only see through limited cultural glasses?<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Matt. 21:12-13 (New International Version).<\/p>\n [2]<\/a>Vincent Miller,\u00a0Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture<\/em>\u00a0(USA: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005), 255.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid. 28<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Merriam-Webster<\/em>, s.v. \u201cDesensitize,\u201d\u00a0https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/desensitize<\/a>.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> \u201cOn Cultural Desensitization to Strategies of Cultural Destruction.,\u201d accessed February 21, 2019,\u00a0https:\/\/www.catholicamericanthinker.com\/desensitization.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/astonishing-church-lighting-ideas-with-furniture-tips-to-help-a-small-look-like-big-1-worshipideas-com-300x157.jpg\")
<\/a>The attractional pull of the new wave of doing service to appeal to the masses can lead to an uncomfortable stance between belief and consumption. We live in a society where there is a need to consume what we desire instead of what we need. Thus, invitations to the church given by them to others are from the same perspective, \u201cWhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/s-l640-1-300x212.jpg\")
<\/a>Christ. This parody highlights the drastic change of image of the Catholic church using Buddy Christ and the center stage of the \u201cCatholicism Wow\u201d campaign. In order to make Jesus more friendly, they recreated His image with Him smiling, winking, hand gestures of thumbs up and the other hand point as if to say \u201cHere\u2019s looking at you.\u201d The respect for the cultural aspects of the Catholics reverence to their depiction of Jesus is tainted in the marketplace in forms of bobbleheads, action figures, and memes. This is desensitization and commodification at its peak.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/thumb-300x169.jpg\")
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