by Orcoo
I read something in the latest Fast Company (the kicker is on the 2nd page) magazine that has challenged, troubled, and jacked me completely up. Some researchers did a study about altruism and and contemporary culture and their findings were quite…well, amazing.
“[It] indicates that subjects are more likely to splurge on fancier sunglasses or pricier concert tickets after giving to charity. If you buy ecological or green products or consume alternative health care or practice yoga, it’s easy to conclude, “Hey, I’ve done my part.”
I believe that this will result in the natural “endgame” for our Christian Ethos.
A cursory glance at church at the local level reveals that “attendance” is down, “giving” is down, and “serving” is down. And as the economy downgrades, so do these tell-tale signs of church health. But I believe that there are some cultural benchmarks that factor in to why “our people” act and respond the way that they do.
As the article suggests, people are “self”-motivated. And we, as good Christian leaders, cater to them: “How can I pray for you?” “What can I pray about for you this week?” “Are you ready to accept Christ as your Savior?” I know, I seem to be going WAY out of the way to make a point, but ponder this: church plants all over American are catering to a group of people who do not know Christ, or have been hurt by the church…OF COURSE they are going to be self-centered. Jesus Christ died for them, and they want to be saved from going to Hell when they die. And unfortunately, that’s usually about where their commitment ends and our “real work” begins.
So when the giving or attendance is down, we start to ask ourselves, “What needs to change?” or “What do we need to tweak to connect with people?” Fair questions, but that’s where the Endgame scenario begins.
We should be asking ourselves, “What is our benchmark for success?” Is it new Christians or more re-commitments? Is it more volunteers or more discipleship? Or, it could we be setting our benchmarks too low? IS there a standard for why we do what we do in our post-modern, cutting-edge, churches? What doe God expect out of us and our churches?
In my opinion, Jesus had only 2 goals (commandments) for us to attain, the first is located in Mark 12, to love God and Love our neighbors, and the second is in Matthew 28, to go and make disciples.
What is the endgame for you and your ministry?
If you buy ecological or green products or consume alternative health care or practice yoga, it’s easy to conclude, “Hey, I’ve done my part.”
That jacks me up, too.; from the other side of the coin. Your mileage will vary with different schools/teachers/practitioners, but practicing yoga should, in theory, lead you from introspective exercise into deep-seated compassion for your neighbor. Whenever I teach a class, it’s always from a perspective of What can we explore in ourselves so that we’re better capable of service to one another/community/God/etc.
With love,
Deir
Hello my friend -
Yeah, from the “church world”, we have a term, we call these people “Consumer Christians: they come in, use up as many resources as we can offer/give/have and then, and only when THEY are filled, they MAY grace us with some sort of service or offering (money/time/talent). And when they DO, it’s under the most amazing set of conditions, that it’s almost worthless to the organization.
But I don’t mean to bitch.
Much love and peace