In Patience with God, Frank Schaeffer states the following about consumerism in American evangelicalism (page 98):
If the [United States Marine Corps] caved to the consumer culture the way the evangelicals have, each drill instructor would be individually picked by each recruit, some choosing DIs based on looks, others on charm, yet others because this or that DI wore a cool uniform or was “nicer than those other guys.” The process might be fun, but the idea that the Marines are identifiable because each Marine knows that all other Marines share the same experience of boot camp, values, and discipline would be lost. The word Marine would lose its meaning if all recruits went to boot camps that suited them personally. The Marine Corps would then become just another part of the entertainment industry/consumer culture, which is exactly what the evangelical/fundamentalist churches are today, with a therapeutic twist that adds feeling good to the product list.
My response: So what? Who says that church has to be like the U.S. military? I ordinarily like Frank Schaeffer because he advocates authenticity, which evangelicalism often inhibits. Authenticity goes hand-in-hand with freedom: with being oneself and expressing one’s honest opinions, rather than conforming to what religious authorities say one should think, feel, and say. I also like Frank Schaeffer because he criticizes evangelicalism, some of whose leaders feel that they are beyond question. But, as I read the above quote, I’m eerily reminded of authoritarian strands within evangelicalism, the sorts that happen to view church as if it’s like the military (or at least should be). Frank appears to depart from his usual defense of freedom.
There is a lot of criticism of evangelical consumerism within evangelicalism today. A friend of mine recently posted a summary of Os Guiness’ lecture at Princeton: Os Guinness in a lecture at Princeton said Christians have internalized a shift from the recognition of authority to the idolization of individual preference. They also practice cafeteria-style Christianity, essentially picking and choosing components to embrace or shun.
I replied, “Yup. I take it Os sees that as a bad thing?” My comment (either intentionally or unintentionally) got deleted. But what I was trying to express was how tired I am of evangelicals who harp about “authority” while bad-mouthing our right to make choices. In my opinion, there are evangelicals who dislike “consumerism” because they don’t want us to make our own decisions: rather, they desire to tell us what to do, in accordance with their own preferences and interpretation of Scripture. The fact that we can vote with our feet and don’t have to take their garbage undermines their control, and they don’t like that. They prefer an atmosphere in which they can exercize control over others through guilt-trips, proclamations of “thus saith the LORD”, and appeals to church authority. Consumerism goes against that, for it’s about freedom.
Some of these feelings were swishing through my mind as I watched the Anne Rice interview on ABC News. The story concluded by saying that Anne Rice will continue to pray and to read the Bible, but she’ll do so on her own. To some evangelicals, that entire concept is unthinkable! We need to be under church authority, because we can’t make moral decisions on our own! My impression is that Anne Rice’s critics believe she should go to church, submit to authority, and put up with the aspects of church that she does not like, as a good Christian soldier. That’s a part of spiritual growth, after all! But why should she do that? She said that she does not like her money being used to support Proposition 8. That’s her judgment call. She feels that the church is promoting an intolerant society, and she does not want to be a part of that. Why should she have to be? Can’t she make her own moral judgment calls? Do her critics believe she should be a hypocrite and embrace causes that repulse her as immoral?
Spiritual growth in part is about us becoming better people, people who feel secure in God’s love and who view others as precious to God as well. Different things work for different people in encouraging them to follow that path. What’s wrong with people going to churches that they feel are helpful to them on their spiritual journey? No, it’s not the marines, but why’s our spiritual journey have to be like the marine corps?
And yet, I can understand the concern over consumerism. What about people who choose churches that harp on the culture wars, without even remotely suggesting that we should love those who disagree with us? There is a market for those types of churches. I’m not sure that what people want to hear should be the final arbiter as to what proceeds from the pulpit. In consumerism, however, what people want to hear can easily become the final arbiter.
And yet, maybe people want to be challenged to grow and to love, some with bluntness, and others with gentleness. Perhaps a church that would tolerate (say) adultery is not meeting the spiritual needs of people, but is leaving them empty, and they recognize that.