Consuming Worship?

Last updated on: June 19, 2023 at 1:43 pm by C. Don Jones

Consuming Worship? 2023-06-19T13:43:40-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Do lay people think of themselves as customers consuming worship? Pastors, like me, are appalled to hear lay people refer to a concert provided by a religious musician as worship. It does not help when church leaders in the American South say they want churches to be filled with people as “excited about Jesus as they are about college football.” Honestly? Are we really thinking this through? All anyone needs to do is check social media after the local team has lost to see that “excitement” is precisely what we already have in churches. “The refs have it in for us,” means the same thing as “the pastor has an agenda.” What choir director wants to hear how boring their half-time show (or cantata) is?

Gluttony as Consuming

Gluttony is people making their stomachs into a god. The early disciples of Jesus were often told when accepting hospitality to eat what is put before them. If your primary focus in life is eating, then your purpose is to serve your own desires. American culture is defined by consumerism. Having what people want to consume is supposed to motivate every person in business. Demand requires supply. Yet, demand is created by economic propaganda. We call it advertising.

Propaganda is turning the minds of people to a desired action. If I want to sell cake, I need people to want to buy it. I could advertise on some media about how good my cake is. It will not sell many cakes. But if I fund a study that says to the public, “You will have to buy more cake in order for producers to keep producing cake,” then I have a winning strategy that has nothing to do with people being hungry. Clearly, that is insane. But, it works.

Values Consumption

Christian pop music is an example of consuming based on values. Years ago, when I was in Youth Ministry, I overheard a pre-teen say, “My mother only gave me twenty dollars. I am not sure she would want me to spend it on (a compact disc of the music of the band performing at the program).” An adult told the child I am sure she would rather you spend it on this than some other music.” I glowered at the woman. She was shaming the kid into spending money based on the supposed values upheld by the performers. Guilting some vulnerable person into a purchase – at church no less – is despicable.

Parachurch “ministries” use this tactic. Values consumption is guilt consumption. “You can’t possibly vote for a pro-choice candidate. You must vote for this authoritarian instead.” People buy into something they have a hard time explaining why they do it. They don’t want to admit it is due to guilt.

Worship for Consuming

“I do not get anything from your sermons.” I agree. Active listening takes effort.

“I do not feel that I am being fed.” This is also what my kids said when I offered healthier snacks. It indicates a taste for spiritual junk food.

“I feel like I worshiped.” This means, “I am satisfied by getting what I wanted.”

These statements indicate people are programmed to consume. Not only that, they believe that consuming is the purpose of their lives. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Leaving aside gender issues, what does our consumerist culture say about this text? Nothing. Enjoying, as in being joyful in the company of another person, is a foreign word.

Concluding Thoughts

Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act) is wrong. Church is not about butts in seats. It is about hands at work. Or as someone said, “Do for others what your would have them do for you.” Someone could ask, “Are we not glorifying God when we praise God with a band of musicians?” Possibly. However, no one seriously bases discipleship on musical tastes. We measure it in different ways.

Getting away from consumerist mentality is not easy. It requires a different stage of deconstruction. Nothing easy is ever worth doing. It is worth discarding the consumerist mentality for a greater freedom of the mind and heart. The gospel of Christ is key to overcoming bad theology. It is also the way to relate to the world differently.

Church Discipline

Devotional

Previous Post

June 13, 2023

The Sacred Heart of Appalachia

Next Post

June 22, 2023 Billionaires, Vanity, and Wishing People Evil

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible contains the "Armor of God" passage?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ephesians Galatians Colossians Romans