KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Consumer
THE FIRST ROLE of successful merchandising is to give consumers what they want...
If they want bigger burgers, make their burgers bigger. Designer bottled water in six fruit flavors? Done. Minivans with ten cup holders? Give them twenty. You've got to keep the customer satisfied. You've got to modify your product and your message to meet their needs if you want to build a market and get ahead of the competition.
Today this same consumer mind-set has invaded Christianity. The church service is too long, you say? We'll shorten it (one pastor guarantees his sermons will never last more than seven minutes!). Too formal? Wear your sweatsuit. Too boring? Wait'll you hear our band!
And if the message is too confrontational, or too judgmental, or too exclusive, scary, unbelievable, hard to understand, or too much anything else for your taste, churches everywhere are eager to adjust that message to make you more comfortable. This new version of Christianity makes you a partner on the team, a design consultant on church life, and does away with old-fashioned authority, guilt trips, accountably, and moral absolutes (John MacArthur).
KneEmail: "For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased god through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (1 Cor. 1:21; cf. v. 18; Gal. 1:6-9).