Friday, November 21, 2008
What We Have Wrought
Fans of Christian music, listeners to Christian radio, watchers of Christian TV -- you're very attractive, did you know that?Obvious notion really, so why the revulsion? Is it my decidedly politically conservative leanings? Well, I am sure those that disagree with me are likely to contend such, but it really is not the case. There are two essential reasons I find this troubling
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Sure, anyone who's been paying attention knows the Democrats have ramped up their outreach to religious voters in the past few years, but a concerted effort to reach into Christian Medialand has intensified recently and will continue beyond the November election.
- It reduces "Christians" to a demographic, and
- Being so reducing is a bit de-humanizing which is antithetical to Christ's ministry.
Looking at the first point, whether it be "Christian" media, or bookstore, or just "marketing" your congregation, being a Christian and being the church is about more than being a simple, definable demographic. For one thing, I would hope that someday the church would transcend traditional demographic groups. Whether they be racial, socio-economic, political ideology - faith in Jesus Christ should be held in a fashion where such concerns are secondary. Thus I think well functioning church would be so diverse that targeting in the fashion that is being described here would be impossible.
The other point here is that when we reduce being a Christian to a demographic, we tend to confuse conformity with the demographical definition with actually being a Christian. It seems to be that demographic conformity is little more than a sideways approach to legalism. I mean in Christianity is about what we are on the outside instead of becoming that which we were created to be, where is the difference between us and Judaism?
What's even worse is in this modern version of legalism, our conformity is not measured by our ethical behavior, even a misshapen ethics, but instead by our consumption - what we buy, listen to, and where we hang out.
My final objection to all this lies in the manipulative nature of it all. All the groups, that in the name of Christ, are attempting to be the recipients of our consumption do not look at us - they look at our characteristics, and attempt to use that analysis to control our behavior. Which points out two important facts. For one this consumptive model of Christianity benefits the seller far more than the consumer - is that really how the church is supposed to function? Secondly, the consumer is not a person. How does that compare with Christ's encounter with the Woman at the well?
Think about it.
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