The Church Is Not A Product

A couple of years ago, Leanne and I were on vacation at our super-secret location.  Leanne heard good reports of a local restaurant and suggested that I look at the menu online, so I did.  The reviews from Google and Yelp were promising, even showing a graph of peak business hours.  Based on this online information we planned to eat at the restaurant at a time that was not usually busy.  The following day we arrived at the restaurant and experienced a short wait until we were seated, and then something strange happened.  We sat.  And sat.  And sat.  And watched as servers waited on all the tables around us, except ours.  I went to speak with the hostess, and she assured me that a server would be at our table shortly.  So we sat.  And sat.  And sat.  Finally, we decided to leave and find another place to eat.  That evening, I did something for the first time – I left an online review, detailing our negative experience.  And so goes the contemporary American experience.  

The old business adage “the customer is always right” is so ingrained into our minds that we sometimes drag that mentality into the church.  I find it an absolutely ridiculous idea that someone can leave an online review for a church, yet some pastors even promote this idea as if God needs a public relations campaign.  There are reviews of Lakewood online right now, and most of the reviewers I have never even met.

This entire concept is foreign to the Bible.  The church is not a product.  Attendees are not consumers.  Our worship is not a consumer service.  The church exists for the glory of God, period, full-stop.  Paul said in Galatians 1:10 “am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?”  Yes, we are certainly called to serve others and place the needs of others before ourselves, but never for the purpose of promoting the church or ourselves.  Individually, we exist to bring glory to God and to find our joy in Him alone.  Our service to others is for the purpose of pointing them to God as well.  Jesus told Peter “If you love me, feed My sheep.”  We feed His sheep when we serve them.  Jesus came to serve, not be served.  Look for every possible way that you can meet the needs of others, and in the process you will find that God has actually met your needs.

Blessings, 

Pastor Bruce

bruce.cullom@gmail.com