It is no secret that we live in a consumer-driven culture where ”The customer is always right” and “You can have it your way” because “It’s all about You”. That kind of consumer-oriented mentality poses a variety of challenges to restaurants and stores. And it even poses problems for churches.
It is not uncommon for consumer-driven people to shop around from church to church looking for goods and services that suit their own desires. Such people often look for a church that has dynamic worship, provides child care, offers free counseling, has an active youth group, ”is not judgmental” and so on.
Tragically (for them) the things they need the most are often the things they fail to seek. And if they happen to stumble upon the things they need they often reject them because they were not looking for them in the first place. The fundamental mistake consumer-christians make is assuming that what they want for themselves is what God wants for them.
Such people remind me of the restless seeker in a song by U2.
I believe in the Kingdom Come
Then all the colours will bleed into one
Bleed into one.
But yes, I’m still running.
You broke the bonds
And you loosed the chains
Carried the cross of my shame
Oh my shame, you know I believe it.
But I still haven’t found
What I’m looking for.*
In this song the seeker encounters the things he needs, but he rejects them because they are not the things he wants. He encounters true grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ, pays lip service to it in song, and claims to believe it, but he is dissatisfied. He still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. The gospel of grace is just not enough for him. He wants something else. He imagines that there is something better. Bottom line: He values something else more than he values the gospel of grace.
Sound familiar?
Unfortunately, the same thing is true of some of the people who have come and gone at New Hope Church. The gospel of grace is just not enough for them. They “need” something better, want something more, something else, something different. Sadly, some people esteem lesser things — like family, programs, traditions, or preferences — above the gospel. Since they cannot find what they’re looking for in one church they go church-shopping somewhere else.
Nevertheless, we continue to proclaim the gospel of God’s grace; we administer baptism and communion; and we strive to love God, one another, and our neighbors. The reason: God says these are the things we need; these are the things God looks for in a church. Consumerism to the contrary, we believe God is always right. Since it’s all about him, he can have it any way he wants it.
Is the gospel of grace enough for you? If so, then you’ve come to right place.
If not, then you won’t find what you’re looking for here.
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