August 2, 2010

When Christianity meets Marketing

I just don't think I can say it better than Greg has here:
Sacrifice means petty moments of self-denial or sponsoring a kid for $30 a month. Salvation means Jesus died for me so I won't go to hell, or so I will go to heaven. Holiness is now rigid moralism, especially about things that aren't a problem for me: homosexuality, abortion, porn, alcoholism, etc., never injustice, envy, lust, greed, crass materialism, gossip, indifference to the world's suffering, etc. The redefinition of every word in the common Christian lexicon to fit the marketing strategies of church growth methodology ensures that the message remains consistent with the simplistic assertions, and also ensures that any theologizing about those assertions is met with suspicion and fear at best, anger and violence at worst. The consensus, using the same methodology MTV and radio consolidation used to destroy music, goes national, the ignorance is shared, the status quo is guarded, and everyone feels so fucking Christian.

2 comments:

Noah said...

Yeah. Game, set, match.

Monk-in-Training said...

I am so grateful that I am seeing the underbelly of my city's life. Here, where I am working I see people REALLY sacrificing, letting rigid morals sit aside while saying that the "Good News" MUST include a meal and a cold glass of lemonade on a hot day or it isn't what Jesus said when He said it was "Good News" for the poor!

I know the Christianity of Greg's quote, it is our second biggest industry here in Tulsa. I avoid it as much as I can. It speaks more of Ayn Rand than Jesus!