What is Commercial Christianity?

What is Commercial Christianity?
By Mark Pfeifer www.markandnicki.com

ARE WE REALLY PREACHING THE GOSPEL THST JESUS PREACHED?

As believers living in the United States, we have to ask ourselves some very serious questions concerning the “gospel” we preach. Because our pop culture is so heavily influenced by the entertainment industry and our economy based on capitalism; our own form of unique Christianity has emerged.

I’m not saying that it’s all bad. In fact, much of it is good. This is why leaders from other nations clamor for an opportunity to hear teachers from the United States and come to our nation to be trained. The fact that Americans Christians have helped fulfill the Great Commission worldwide in numerous ways is undeniable.

However, the impact of our culture on the gospel our citizens hear every Sunday needs to be measured with a Biblical standard not an American one. Simply put, are we preaching a Committed Christianity or a Commercial Christianity?

* Committed: “devoted to somebody or something such as a cause or relationship” (Encarta Online Dictionary)
* Commercial: “relating to the buying and selling of goods or services” (Encarta Online Dictionary)

Pastors are under pressure. Mega-ministries they see on television and the Christian celebrities they produce set the standard for success. In an attempt to create a ministry in that image, preachers become motivated to create fans instead of disciples; customers instead of warriors; admirers instead of sons.

What works to create fans, customers and admirers is not the same criteria that produces disciples, warriors and sons. Can you imagine what would happen if the military used a customer service policy in basic training? How could Jesus have made 12 disciples if His only motive was to entertain them with His performances? What would happen if we raised our children to become our admirers instead of healthy sons and daughters?

What would it look like? It would look like many churches in America!

In an attempt to pacify people so they will stay with us and draw new people in; we have adopted a philosophy forged in the American entrepreneurialism that uses a humanistic model instead of a Biblical model.

In many cases, we have conformed the message of the cross around people’s desires and lifestyles instead of demanding that people conform their desires and lifestyles around the cross.

It’s kind of like the marksman who prided himself in always hitting the bull’s-eye. But what people didn’t know was that he shot the target first and painted the bull’s-eye around the bullet hole.

In order to produce commercial success, pastors are abandoning a message of commitment and replacing it with a message of accommodation that allows people to continue self-centered lifestyles that in the end will destroy them. Comparing the difference between a Committed Christianity and a Commercial Christianity, Jesus said some interesting things in Luke 9…
COMMITTED CHRISTIANITY

In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Remember that the cross in that day was a symbol of shame and humiliation. It was an instrument of capital punishment reserved for the worse criminals of society. In no uncertain terms, Jesus commanded His followers to deny themselves every day, take up an instrument of humiliation and death in order to follow up unashamedly. Is that the type of Christianity preached from American pulpits today?

I heard this message taught once from a plate of bacon and eggs. A friend of mine looked at his breakfast and said, “You know, the chicken was involved but the pig was committed!” It’s time to dust off some of those old sermons preached by the pioneers of our faith; sermons that called people to commitment rather than convenience.
COMMERCIAL CHRISTIANITY

Later in Luke 9, we have a picture of Commercial Christianity in its fullness. In fact, we see it broken down into three distinct forms.

Form #1: Consumer Christianity V-57-58
“Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, ‘Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ ”

Consumer Christianity enjoys the benefits of being saved but is not willing to pay the price. It focuses on all the benefits and blessings of being a Christ follower but wants none of the sacrifice associated with it. Using this form, people bargain with God like they haggle over the price of goods in the marketplace. Some believers have been spoon fed a self-help gospel of blessing for so long that when a leader tries to disincline them or ask for a greater commitment, they choke on it.

Form #2: Convenient Christianity V-59-60
“Then He said to another, ‘Follow Me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the Kingdom of God.’”

Convenient Christianity follows Christ on personal terms; only when it’s convenient. In this passage the man wanted to follow Christ after his father had passed away. When it was convenient, maybe in a year or two, the man would follow. However, Jesus retorts with a message of commitment, calling the man to preach the Kingdom of God now, convenience notwithstanding.

We have bent and distorted the message of the cross around the convenience of people for a long time in the church. We offer them convenient services at convenient times with convenient messages, all designed to fit easily into their busy schedule with no demands upon them to change. Asking people to sacrifice for the church and the cause of Christ has become a bitter message in the mouths of American Christians who have acquired a taste for truffles and fluff.

Form #3: Casual Christianity V-61-62
“And another also said, ‘Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’”

Jesus describes a person who casually plows a field while looking backwards. When people do this while driving automobiles, we call this distracted driving and pass laws prohibiting it. Drivers casually text on their cell phones, adjust the volume on the radio and put on make-up while piloting their car. This is not only dangerous for the driver but for everyone else on the road at the time.

While we won’t allow it on the streets of America, we condone this type of behavior from our pulpits every week. We indorse it. We have created a brand of casual Christianity that allows people to be lukewarm and stride the fence. They are never called into question or rebuked for their actions. Instead, they are encouraged to serve the Lord on their own terms.
CONCLUSION

Considering what Jesus said about the necessity of carrying the cross and His commands to the three people who supposedly came to follow Him ought to make us reexamine the message we preach. Are we truly calling disciples to a lifestyle committed to the Jesus or simply trying to build our commercial success? This is an important question for us to answer!

It’s my belief that people are looking for something worth living and dying for. They are hungry for a cause; a purpose; a battle cry. We have it…so let’s give it to them.

Leaders; don’t be afraid to preach for commitment. Don’t be shy about demanding that people sacrifice for the cause of Christ. Don’t apologize for requiring people to change their schedules to accommodate the activities of the church.

People, don’t be offended when Christian leaders rebuke your selfishness and challenges you to a greater commitment to Christ. Don’t leave the church if your leaders require you to change your schedule to accommodate a church activity. You should thank leaders who demand a greater commitment to God. They are helping to save your souls from death!

Committed Christianity will bring true fulfillment and meaning to your life!