our culture & the art of manipulation

Last updated on: September 7, 2006 at 10:35 am by David Hayward

our culture & the art of manipulation 2006-09-07T10:35:47-04:00 David Hayward

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.

I came across an interview Christianity Today did with Eugene Peterson. Thereâ€™s lots of interesting reading there. (To read the whole interview, click here ).

Thereâ€™s several things I could refer to, but the part that caught my attention was when he talked about the churchâ€™s tendency to manipulate people. This is what he said:

â€œWhenever guilt is used as a tool to get people to do anythingâ€”good, bad, indifferentâ€”it’s bullying. And then there’s manipulative languageâ€”to talk people into programs, to get them involved, usually by promising them something.

â€œI have a friend who is an expert at this sort of thing. He’s always saying, â€˜You’ve got to identify people’s felt needs. Then you construct a program to meet the felt needs.â€™ It’s pretty easy to manipulate people. We’re so used to being manipulated by the image industry, the publicity industry, and the politicians that we hardly know we’re being manipulated.

â€œThis impatience to leave the methods of Jesus in order to get the work of Jesus done is what destroys spirituality, because we’re using a non-biblical, non-Jesus way to do what Jesus did. That’s why spirituality is in such a mess as it is todayâ€¦

â€œâ€¦I think relevance is a crock. I don’t think people care a whole lot about what kind of music you have or how you shape the service. They want a place where God is taken seriously, where they’re taken seriously, where there is no manipulation of their emotions or their consumer needs.â€

This is the kind of stuff that turns me on! Iâ€™m totally convinced that as a pastor, I must resist the persistent temptation to control and manipulate people.

<br />

thought

Previous Post

September 6, 2006

in conversation with Tom Harpur

Next Post

September 7, 2006 long-term memory loss

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category art cartoons cartoons 2 freebie music one minute message podcast Sophia teaching technology thought

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 March 2006 February 2006

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian group worships mainly on Saturday, not Sunday?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Seventh-day Adventist Catholic Methodist Orthodox