I want to come back to the quotation in the blog entry on Liquid Church. Mariam had a great comment regarding some of the themes of the Bible in response to that post.
I think I get what Pete Ward is saying (and I only say that because my response may not apply if I don't get it). His quotation, and much of the book, sound like he is just trying to make the faith understandable and relevant for people in a fragmented and diversified culture. He even mentions not "dumbing anything down." This point is valid. Different people will understand the gospel in different ways and have to apply it to the circumstances in which they live. This is one of the key things the missional church must consider.
However, he takes an unnecessary step in labeling this as consumerism. Consumerism has to do with consumption. Taking things and using them up. At least in our culture it has to do with accumulation of goods (and in that way is directly connected to materialism, though consumerism also includes experiences and other intangibles). The gospel is not a product. It is not something that will be accepted by everyone if we can just find the right bottle to put it in. This vastly underestimates the role of the Holy Spirit and the severity of the call of Christ. I would go so far as to say that viewing the gospel as a product to be marketed to consumers is one of the key contributors to the utter futility and lack of depth in American Christianity. It is seen as one more product to be used in the service of our enjoyment and ease of life. This is the most hideous distortion of the gospel I can imagine.
So while I can agree that we must take culture, language, customs, experiences, etc. into account as we seek to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, I cannot agree that this gospel is compatible with consumerism. Consumerism is a poison to the gospel we proclaim.
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3 comments:
good thoughts
I agree with you most of the way, but I have to add another few reasons why the gospel is so impotent in america with some marriage language. We have married christianity to america after divorcing it from the kingdom of God. We have gotten into bed with america and now we don't recognize the evils the nation commits because we are too willing to believe that america does the work of God. We forget that the Kingdom of God is one of love and service. I believe this is entirely related because we also make the social values of the nation the value of christianity and end up making claims like the Gospel should embrace consumerism.
Excellent distinctions Trev! See, I told you I'd be looking here for my answers! =] And Ryan, I really like your addendum also -- I think your analogy language worked well to explain how we've ended up in the confused mess we are in...
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