Future of the Church 4 (of 5)
More Missional and Less Consumeristic
The consumer-Christian will not survive in the next ten years. You might ask, “What is a Consumer-Christian?” In our church, it is the person who “church shops” for a church that meets his needs. Church is all about them. When the church doesn’t work for them anymore, they shop for another one.
As the inevitable persecution of Christians increases, going to church won’t be something we do to feel good about ourselves. Instead of thinking church exists for us, we’ll remember that we are the church, and we exist for the world.
The consumeristic-Christian (if they are truly believers) will either become fully committed to Christ or they will fall away. Those remaining will become mission-minded.
The future church will be made up of believers who:
- Are sick of living in material comfort while millions starve to death.
- Make money to give more than to consume.
- Believe in the power of prayer and fasting.
- Are willing to suffer for the cause of Christ.
- Will be engaged in missions both locally and internationally.
- See it as their role to lead people to Christ.
- See it as their role to help people in need.
I believe that things in our country will need to become increasingly bad for the Church to wake up and be the Church. Unfortunately, I think things will get worse. But the good news is that the Church will get better.
What do you think?
Visit 
What do I think?
I could write a book on this. Jesus said you can’t put new wine in old wineskins for a reason.
What do you do when you are leading a group that is divided between the two?
Unfortunately, we live in a Burger King “Have it your way society� which carries over to the Consumer-Christian. While I think it’s great to have options when an individual is trying to find a church; once they find a church they need to “Be The Church.�
You posed a great question for us to ask ourselves,�Are you willing to suffer for the cause of Christ?� If so, how…… Ouch!
I have always believed that if there was a true shaking in America where it got really bad for the church that we would see who the “real” church was. Church in America is easy and so we tend to live a easy Christianity.
We really don’t have to leave home or family or brother or sister…or forsake everything for the gospel. If there was a little intensity I believe the “real” church would rise up and many consumer-Christians would fall away.
I love what Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about “Cheap Grace:”
It’s easy to sell a faith that is comfortable. I wonder what steps we can take to shift peoples’ thinking and habits from consumerism to sacrificial?
Kevin asked, “What do you do when you are leading a group and you are divided between the two?”
I have some thoughts but would love to hear from some of you. Can you offer Kevin any wisdom?
Craig,
Your post, and indeed this series of posts “smell” of time in the prayer closet. This write up is so true. I have often been asked why the move of God that is so radically sweeping across Nigeria, and indeed Africa is touching millions of lives. My simple answer: Because life is so difficult that people have no where else to turn but God. Hardship will drive you to the Rock or to the rocks.
Regarding Kevin’s question, I would suggest that modeling Christ (ie loving people into the Kingdom) serves as the only real way to focus people on truth rather than on their own perspectives. I realize that this might sound trite, but in reality, nothing transforms a heart more than God’s love. People’s paradigms are generally formed by their cultural exposure and lessons along the way. Whether people are “new wine” or “old wineskins” all pales to insignificance in the presence of a loving and majestic God. My two cents from one sent!
Paul said that we are to consider one another because we might fall too. When we have brothers and sisters who have a weak or “cheap” faith we must come along side them, take them by the hand and ‘live-out’ what deep faith really is.
We see Paul’s frustration with this very issue in 1 Corinthians 3:1-4, “But for right now, friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way? When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?” (TM).
God’s leaders are compelled to help these consumer oriented Christians grow-up. It would be easy to scold them, sweep them under a rock and tell them they would probably be better off in another church, but look at Paul’s answer to this in 1 Corinthians 4:14-16, “I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.” (TM).
We see the Apostles shake the dust from their feet toward those who reject the gospel (the old wineskins…the religeous-right), but for those who accepted and believed, but never grew-up, we see a righteous idignation, a broken heart, a heavy spirit, an indispensable love…but never a quitting attitude.
Be Happy!
Bryan
Imforgive.com/blog
WOOOOO HOOOOO!!! This is the reason I am a part of LifeChurch.tv
Keep it coming, Craig. We’ll all stand together to see the TRUE church BE the church (instead of just go to church).
What did James define “true relgion” as being???
Uh oh. If you aliens stop worrying about your “stuff” and start realizing that the answer to “WWJD” is whatever the Father told Him to, yer gonna be extremely dangerous to be around. You might even come up with a new wristband; WDGWTCTD. What Does God Want The Church To Do? Nah, too long.
anne jackson - Cheap grace; great name for a Christian Rock Band tho. Mommy’s alright, daddy’s alright, they just seem a little saved…
Kevin - you know what they say. You can’t serve two different flocks… or something like that. (grin)
Joseph - “the move of God that is so radically sweeping across Nigeria, and indeed Africa is touching millions of lives.” Fascination ensues! Links pretty please?
Jimmy,
THis is one link that will take you to a history of the Holy Ghost Congress of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Lagos Nigeria. CNN estimated the attendance at their last event (2006)to be 7 million people (in an area that measures ten square miles). I’m sure if you google Redeemed Christian Church of God or David Oyedepo of Winners International Church(the largest physical church building in the world) you will come up with a few more hits. Happy viewing.
http://hgc2005.rccg.org/site/story of HGS.htm
Jimmy,
Make sure you cut and paste the entire link and not just the underlined.
One more link for you Jimmy
http://davidoyedepoministries.org
“Mission Minded/Missional Minded”…that’s what I want to be about, that’s where my bent is. Some people think it’s a niche, but I think it comes as a natural by product of us being “convinced” and having the “love of Christ compel us.”(2 Cor 5:14).
Craig, you said, “Unfortunately, I think things will get worse. But the good news is that the Church will get better.” I agree with this according to Isa 60:2.
I understand that the blog is rebuking total selfishness, but as far as “church shopping” goes, there are good and bad reasons for leaving a church and finding another one.
It depends on what the “needs” are. If the needs are biblical, legit, of God (i.e. not seeking comfort but rather encouragement and guidance from the Holy Spirit), then there’s no reason to write a “church shopper” off as consumeristic.
Desiring to have needs met does not always imply that these people are not mission-minded.
We are finding here that alot of how this mission minded dna gets replicated is not only when it is taught but also when a small group meets and affirms “its not all about MY stuff”. One group here met last Monday and agreed that they were going to focus on what God is changing in them and where HE wants them to go into action. If there were 7 million people in this nation with that readiness to go into action this morning, the light of Christ would light up the whole place.
Craig,
I think you have been looking into the “crystal sea ball” to get this insight. I believe we are in the last days. What an honor to lead in these times and in the days ahead. Remember a coach always picks his best players to be in the 4th quarter! Life is short…lead different.
Buddy
p.s. How would we lead different if we knew Christ would return in the next 5 years? The eternal audit is coming either way. Peace out.
Right on the spot. If future (or even better: present/future) christians aren’t becoming what you pointed out, what are we becoming then?
My husband and I have been talking about this a lot recently. We see a time of increasing pain coming. Paul told Timothy that everyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. I think the American church is not being persecuted because we’re not living the way we’ve been called to. The surging wave of anti-church feeling and impending political changes are actually a sign that we’re waking up from our coma. Rising persecution is a great symptom of a strengthening church.
You can just as easily say that persecution brings spiritual strength as you can the other way around. When Chronicles charges us that, “If my people called by my name will humble themselves and pray…” I always thought it was to ask God to “fix up” our nation. I now think the prayer and repentance it calls for is to fix me up and get me back in stride with Him.
Craig ~
Good word.
Isn’t it sad that “consumer-Christian” is even a phrase you would need to use? I suspect that if we all had a true, in-your-face, unavoidable, deep-in-the-gut understanding about what Christ-like discipleship means, we would come nowhere close to a “consumer” faith.
Thanks for all that you and LC do to serve people and serve God by drawing others to Him.
John Ireland
Volunteer Servant-Leader
Quest Community Church
Lexington, KY
I’m so excited to watch the church die! When i’m more comfortable handing my neighbor an invitation to a “church” than I am personally loving, living and showing them the “church” through my life…then something is terribly wrong. The faster the “church” can be persecuted the better.
Hey aaron, woah, slow down.! That’s the bride of Christ yer talking about. How would you like it if somebody said that about your wife? (grin) There’s a big difference between persecution and death. As Cheap Grace might sing, surrender, surrender, but don’t give yourself away…
Wow, Aaron. I wonder how you’d feel if someone talked about your wife like that? The church is Jesus’ bride. It is the only thing on this earth that He ever said that He would build. It really breaks my heart to hear such a tone of disdain and contempt toward the church that we are commissioned to steward in our generation. Even in the epistles of the new testament, you never hear such sentiments in the tone of the apostles’ letters. Jesus birthed the church out of the blood and water spilled from His side. He empowered her through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and He established her through the death of many, many martyrs.
We are so blessed to live in a time where the church is strong in stature and influence across many parts of the earth. I think Paul and the early church fathers would have rejoiced to see the day that we could be openly meeting in large numbers without fear of persecution.
I would venture to say that Christians from nations where they are persecuted for their faith would caution you to not speak such words, as they have probably seen many of their loved ones wrongfully imprisioned or even killed. Rather, I think they would encurage you, as I do, to be thankful for the opportunity you have now and to steward it wisely — even if that means simply inviting someone to church.
For MM:
Yes, there are good reasons for leaving a church, but doing that based upon your needs is different than church shopping (or as I like to call it, Church Hopping).
Changing churches because of the innate desire to be led, fed, and encouraged to change the world as a response to the Grace and Love of Christ is wholly different than simply changing churches because “my kids are bored,” or “I’m bored,” or you don’t like the pastor, or something better is down the street.
Church shopping is appropriate; you must find the family of faith that best suits your NEEDS as defined by the God-shaped whole in each of us. Hopping without necessity is simply expending energy that could be better served changing some part of the world for the glory of the Kingdom of God.
Got em Joseph:
http://hgc2005.rccg.org/site/story of HGS.htm & http://davidoyedepoministries.org
Whew! You guys don’t pull any punches. This is out of context, but still, wow; ‘Many prosperity preachers have missed this point. They tell you that if you give, God will in turn increase your purse. It is not true. “God will not give the returns to everybody. He will only do so on these premise: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. He will only prosper those whose thought life is the kingdom when they sleep, wake up, when they are looking for a business. Everything is so that the kingdom of God can flourish. The kingdom of God is the motive they have for every effort they put into life.’ Fascinating stuff. Thanks for the links.
aaron - ouch, we kinda pounce on you. Sorry about that.
What’s the church’s future?…
This week, Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv, has begun an intriguing series of blog posts about the future of the church: Future of the Church 1 (of 5) - larger and smaller Future of the Church 2 (of 5) -…
Awesome post, i definitely agree!
You know the human me doesn’t want to think about things like this… I want to hide from the truth, and wish everything was doing great… (I have to wonder what my part could possibly be in what you have written)
I want to speak, and think positively… and be uplifting…
But the Christian part of me can’t live without taking a hard look at the truth…
I asked myself questions like…
Will I be one who “falls away”, or maybe even becomes part of the persecution?
The truth is, that the same Jesus that died for the church, is coming to jusge every living thing…
This is a reality that we all must live in…
The truth is, there will be suffering for everyone who wants to live godly in Christ, and we know that Jesus foretold that it would get far worse, befor it gets better… there will be a falling away…
Again, I think this blogpost is prophetic Craig…
It is contraversial, unnerving, and by some will be unpopular or quickly forgotten, but it is biblical, and will certainly come to pass… the only real issue is “when”..
I am part sobered, part encouraged, and all the way thankful that you posted it.. can’t wait for tommorrow’s post…
By the way, to answer Kevin’s question…
(How do you lead the two groups)
… I think the only answer is to example (or practice) what we preach…
Let’s figure out from God’s word how we should “do church” instead of from every where else… and then do it as the apostle James suggested…
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
If you worry too much about the circumstances, you forget who God is and what He is capable of like Peter did on Galillee. (To his credit though, he jumped out of the boat…)
I think leaders first need to shout out “save me Lord”…
and let God worry about the fellas in the boat who haven’t taken that leap…
this makes me think of peter…he was so sure he would NOT deny Jesus, but did 3 times. I think that we need to examine our own walk & not be too confident in ourselves & our faith.
where’s the church consumer come from? well, church these days is made to be about US! we tell people what a christian should look & act like…tell them to obey God & start serving everywhere.
BUT…we don’t focus on their hearts….teaching WHO God IS rather than How we can serve him. we don’t teach enough OUR identity in Christ…our inheritance..what belongs to us…so people are not falling in love with God completely. they are changing slowly from trying so hard, but if we would teach the pure milk, & people get it, their actions will follow. I am a walking testimony of this!
I’m just a lay person, but I meet w/ people every available opportunity to share the truth because faith comes from hearing & hearing of the word! 1 hour at church is not enough to bring REAL faith!
look back at the 1500’s & how we got the bible in print…people gave their lives for us to have access to the word today. how many people actually read it? we don’t even know the sacrifice.
I think we need to spend more time w/ Him & in the word so that HE will be an overflowing from our lives…a result of Him in us..not us trying to look like a christian…that’s not going to hold up through a headache much less persecution.
I’m evaluating my own life right now.
I’m typing from my cell phone…please forgive the errors.
Jimmy, Kerri,
Yes there is a big difference between persecution and death.
Please re-read my post and look at any thoughts you might have through the lense of people being the church…not an organization. At this particular point in time (2007) many people hear the word “church” and think of an organization, or even a cheap structure. When persecution comes (i hope soon) it will force us to see “church” in it’s rawest most beautiful form.
The church i’m in love with is the people.
The church I want to die is the mentality that it’s a place.
By the way I love church with all my heart!
[...] In a recent post, Craig Groeschel says he believes the future of the Church will be comprised of believers who: - Are sick of living in material comfort while millions starve to death. - Make money to give more than they consume. - Believe in the power of prayer and fasting. - Are willing to suffer for the cause of Christ. - Will be engaged in missions both locally and internationally. - See it as their role to lead people to Christ. - See it as their role to help people in need. [...]
aaron - To quote Emily Litella, “Oh, that’s very different. Never mind.” (grin)
Ahhh — Aaron. sorry I missed your intent. I think we are very in agrrement.
It’s been awhile since I visted the blog here and I read through Craig’s view of technology then went right into this one on what will make us a better church and it’s interesting to say the least what comes to mind by his sharing his mind. It reminds me of a favorite talk show who’s host reminds his listeners all the time that he is reaffirming what we already believe, that’s what makes his show so successfull and we keep coming back. Of all the things that attracted me to lifechurch this is at the top of the list. For me it wasn’t shopping in the sense of finding what meets my needs, it’s finding like-minded followers of Christ who saw the same Jesus I saw. It’s not gimmicks, or style, but people willing to try anything to reach that next lost soul; technology being one of those areas far too many scoff at. I have some of those connections Craig spoke of that are necessary for the church to reach out to the world, but I haven’t personally met any of them yet in the flesh. I meet with them regularly each week, we share our lives, do for each other, try to meet needs we all experience, we do missions together, and we can’t wait to come back together again, and it’s all done using technology. These relationships are as dear to me as any I have experienced face to face.
In fact, I’ve been around awhile in church circles and I can tell you too often it’s harder to get the kind of relationships built in our present culture that Craig speaks of than I’ve experienced here using technology. We seem to have little patience with each other face to face, we judge too qickly, and forgiveness is a long time coming. Satan attacks our relationships with little things to divide us and we start looking for ways out, instead of bearing with one another, forgiving each other, being patient with each other, forebearing one another, being kind to each other, no gossipping or grumbling about each other, etc. This is what I have witnessed and experienced all too often in our country church culture way too often, and I too believe as Craig stated that it will take a real awakening for things to change, probably the kind of wakening that won’t be pleasant, but in the end will make the church and our relationships stronger and more real. I believe we need to prepare ourselves for the time is at hand. I feel blessed to know those who believe the same, for these will be the ones we can look to for help when the time comes. We may find it hard to believe now, but it will be a blessing. Thanks for the reminder Craig.
Unfortunately this particular article is looking in the wrong direction. The statement “The consumer-Christian will not survive in the next ten years” is an incorrect one. Why? Because fewer and fewer “Christian” churches boldly proclaim the Word of God accurately, openly, and honestly. As the Word of God loses its prime place in the American church, the consumeristic Christian (if such a person really exists) will find many new places to attend. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to cause unbelievers and believers alike to understand their situation. Without the Word of God, church is just another social gathering.
The real question is, “Will there be a Bible teaching Church in the United States ten years from now?”
Although it is true that the church doesn’t exist just for me (”We know that we have passed from death into life, because we love our brothers” (1Jn 3:14)), it also doesn’t exist just for the world, either (”You are the light of the world” (Mt. 5:14)). The church is the bride of Christ. It primarily exists for Jesus and for His glory.
“Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Eph 5:25-27)
[...] Craig Groeschel has been posting some thoughts on the future of the church this week over on the Swerve blog, and here’s my favorite from the five… [...]