‘Just Business, When Capitalism Replaces Christ as King’

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‘Just Business, How Making Money the Priority, Can Ruin Our Witness for Christ.’

First of all, I would like to go over successful ways to grow your hotdog stand. You may indeed be needing these very helpful tips.

  1. Expand Your Menu Strategically
    Introduce seasonal or themed items like chili dogs in winter or grilled pineapple-topped dogs in summer to keep your offerings fresh.  Add complementary products such as craft sodas, gourmet chips, or vegan sides to increase average order value and attract diverse customers. 
  2. Leverage Mobility and Data-Driven Location Changes Instead of being fixed, operate as a mobile vendor—move to high-traffic areas like parks, festivals, or business districts based on time of day and season.  Track sales data to identify peak days, times, and locations, then optimize your schedule accordingly.
  3. Invest in Branding and Digital Marketing Create a memorable brand identity with a catchy name, vibrant cart design, and consistent social media presence.  Use platforms like Instagram and TikTok to showcase your food, share behind-the-scenes content, and run promotions such as “buy one, get one free” or loyalty punch cards.
  4. Scale Through Multiple Units or Partnerships Once profitable, launch additional carts or trucks in new locations.  Partner with local events, breweries, or schools to secure consistent sales without long-term leases. Consider franchising your concept if your model proves repeatable and scalable.
  5. Use Technology to Streamline Operations Implement a cloud-based POS system to track sales, manage inventory, and analyze performance. Use AI tools for scheduling, customer engagement, and demand forecasting—especially as you grow beyond a single location. 

If you enjoy hotdogs, then whatever you do, don’t click on this video!”

If you clicked on it, then I am sorry.

So is God’s church a hotdog stand? Let’s explore.

Throughout God’s holy word, we are warned of replacing God with idols. It was in the garden that Eve wanted to be a god.  God provided Adam and Eve with everything they needed to live forever, and it was Eve who wanted her own way.  She disobeyed and lead Adam to sin in an effort to do her ‘own thing.’  God’s way wasn’t good enough.  Adam and Eve wanted to replace God’s gift with their own efforts. That was pride to say the least.
Matthew 6:19 states: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.”
What are we to characterize as a treasure on earth? Anything that where moth and rust destroy and thieves can break in and steal. Below is a video a mega church that is now abandoned. When we think about the efforts to build such a structure, the ‘vision’ that was presented to gather people to congregate in such a place, then we can easily consider the damage that was done to lives when this mega church fell apart.

Characteristics of a Business Priority ‘Christian’ Organization:

1.  The bottom line is number first “Mega churches mean big business”“(CNN) — Mega churches across the United States are becoming increasingly popular which is not only bringing thousands of worshippers together, but also billions of dollars in profit.”  And there it is.  Even the secular world recognizes that the larger organizations, such as ‘mega-churches’ bring in huge profits.   And while this example is of a congregation of people who gather in what some would call a local church, there is also big business in the music scene around Christianity, 281 million in 2022. But every organization needs money right?  Of course they do. One of the most misquoted scriptures is 1 Timothy 6:10 which reads, ‘For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.’ . So it isn’t the money that is the root of evil, but the love of it.  So what is the bottom line for Christians who run businesses?  We can look to to Colossians 3:23–24 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. Our bottom line as Christians is to working for the Lord.

And there it is. The building, the business is what is lost.

2. They never make amends for mistakes, errors or sins.  There may be an apology, but no real change of behavior. This is driven by pride and the concern that showing imperfections or sins will cause damage to the business.  Afterall, we as Christians are perfect right?  Some present that way for sure, especially those who want to create a following of ‘holiness.’ Sadly, though, the same story repeats itself decade after decade of perfect ‘men of God’ falling to sin.  And yet, we continue to put people on pedestals time after time only to see the same end.   We build a kingdom around these religious leaders and go to ‘church’ because they are the leader.’ We should not exalt sinners.  When we attend a local church and brag about the pastor as a way invite others, we have built an idol.  We are sinners, we all sin. Including those who proclaim to be Christian ‘leaders.’
3. People are expendable, replaceable. People are a stat. You can always get new customers when others leave.  The end result of making profit/growth a priority in Christ’s church is; Christ’s sheep are divided and when they leave, the goal of a profit/growth mindset is to replace, not repair.   The business is priority,  and those who may provide less impact to the business goals are less necessary, expendable.  If you have a customer who complains about your hot dog recipe, then you can politely explain to them that there are other restaurants out there.  But if someone has issues with how a ‘Christian’ organization runs, then what?  What does Christ’s word tell us to do? It tells us to bear each other’s burdens. We are all valuable in the sight of God.  No one is expendable.  Christ died for all, and we are to love all. Not just those who fit our ‘vision or our type of people.’
The Expendables Movie

I won’t ruin the movie for you. Solid movie though. Love Sly.

4. Tone deafness: Connie Wedel writes in the “Anatomy of Tone-Deaf Leadership”  – “Protecting Reputation at All Costs

“Fear and defensiveness are two reasons why leaders become tone-deaf. Defensiveness makes admitting a mistake or “doing the right thing” almost impossible. When our brains detect a threat, we go into protective mode. Leaders should learn the triggers that cause defensive emotional reactions to combat becoming defensive.”  It might be better to provide nods and smiles when people complain.  After all, the goal is the survival of the organized business, and maybe complaints will just go away with the people who are complaining.

So what about Christ’s church?  Should our ‘leadership’ be tone deaf?  Of course not.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 – “Two are better than one… a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Romans 15:1–2 – “We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak.”
James 2:8 – “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.”
1 Peter 4:8–9 – “Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without complaining.”

These are just a few scriptures that tell us how we should relate to each other as Christian brothers and sisters. We should listen with humility and consider the difficulty each other deal with. This applies to a Christian organization such as a church body, Christian service, or other organization that claims to develop disciples for Christ. We are to be different. And those who choose to serve as ‘leaders’ should listen as scripture says to.

Sadly though, especially in many local churches, “leadership” has turned Christ’s sheep into consumers, customers.   In my post about “It’s time to boot leaders out of Christ’s church” I explore what Christ says about ruling over others, in that people who follow Christ should serve, not lead.  Which makes the term ‘Servant Leadership’ an oxymoron.  The church growth movement was one of the most destructive modern movements to the witness of Christ. The idea that people are viewed as commodities is not Biblical.  Marketing strategies put a price on people, as if we really are selling hotdogs.

Then why do ‘Christian’ businesses keep growing in number at the expense of hurting others?   Why doesn’t anyone else speak up?  Because what matters to most, is the success of the ‘Christian’ business.  It is the collective that needs to survive, and if people are hurt by the business process, well, they weren’t part of the vision after all, right?  But what does Christ say about his sheep, everyone of them matters. But are these businesses really Christian?  Jesus tells us that bad fruit can not come from a good tree. If the fruit is behavior that is contrary to Christ’s word, then we have to judge that they are not. If those charged with the organization are tone deaf, have no empathy, use their positions to hurt others, cover up wrong doing, do not have empathy to others who are hurt by the organization, then we have to question the root of that organization.

One of the enablers of covering up abuse in church are those who practice ‘toxic positivity.‘  Those who don’t want to confront wrong, those who always are positive and believe that speaking of wrongs in Christ’s church, is always negative.  This leads to covering up wrong doing, something that is contrary to how we as brothers and sisters in Christ are supposed to behave.  When a brother and sister expresses hurt, and those around them don’t empathize instead focus on the goal of the ‘Christian’ organization or collective, then that becomes a cover up of sin.  The term today is ‘Coverup Culture.‘  In abuse situations, those who are silent, enable the abuse, and enable a ‘Christian’ business to ‘get past’ sins without being held accountable as God’s word tells us to do.

The Solution: What is a key to reforming a church body from a business to a body that resembles the Acts church?

  • Number 1:  Find every copy of Rick Warren’s “Purpose Driven Church” and throw them in the garbage heap.
  • Number 2: Concentrate on our witness for Christ, and not how non-believers or consumer friendly Christians seek value. Our capitalistic Christianity in church has made us the king of many Christian businesses.   This is why pastors give their congregations surveys.   It’s a business first.
  • Number 3: Depart from the key desire to grow numbers. After all, if we are in God’s will, then we will have faith that He will grow what He wants.  We don’t need the latest marketing strategy that aggregates the marketing ratios of populations.

The Wrap

The damage is done, people have been discarded over the goal of the collective, the business.  Accountability goes unchecked and now there are factions within this Christian business.  Folks on both sides are hurt.  People are leaving.  Friendships have fallen apart or been strained because of the division. And if the business is not careful, they may not be able to fiscally stay afloat.   In that scenario, the bottom line has become the end of the line.  And for what, what is gained by pushing out hurt people?

“Above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” Colossians 3:14
And while there is value in having the best hotdog stand as a Christian, there is no value in having a ‘Christian’ organization that defers to the bottom line as the primary goal and leaves unchecked abuse and mistreatment in its wake.  And this is the problem.  When an organization, just like a single person, claims to be Christian, and then doesn’t follow Christ’s basic commands of love, accountability, humility, and compassion, are they really participating in Christ’s commission? Or, are they building kingdoms on earth where moth and rust destroy.  When business becomes a divisive process in Christ’s body, are we then following what 1 Corinthians 12 says we should do? Are we making idol’s for ourselves, or we building a permanent kingdom.  Good question.  For those of us in business as Christians, we should examine what is important.  Christ’s kingdom, or our own.

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Steven Davis is a well-cooked preacher’s kid, musician, media producer, learning apologetics writer.

#apologetics #blogging #Christianblogger #saltlight #churchgrowth

Whose sheep? Why do local churches brand their sheep as their own?

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In today’s hyper marketed church, one question we have to ask is, “Whose sheep?”    Well in John 10, Christ is clear, we as sheep belong to Christ.  So why do local churches brand the sheep as their own?  This is a by product of the church growth movement.  A movement that incorporated capitalistic ideas into efforts to grow by numbers.   After all, ‘Brand is king.’

In very subtle ways, local churches brand sheep as ‘insert local church name’ during baptisms, putting up a branded photo back drop, selling sunglasses and so on.  When sheep are branded by a local church, who is being advertised?  The local church is being advertised.  However, we see in Scripture, that sheep belong to Christ, so why brand the local sheep with a local brand?

I am branded with Christ, it is Christ who gave his life for me.  I will boast of nothing but Christ.  A group of sinners who I meet with each week, does not compete with a holy Christ who is my only hope.

Galatians 6 14 But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

John 10:

22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 “I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. 26 But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

So why do local churches market their sheep as their own?  It supports the my people culture.  After all, my church is the best and I want everyone to know it! So why brand the sheep? Pride.

What’s our Brand

Steven Davis is a well done preacher’s kid, musician, media producer, learning apologetics writer.

#apologetics #blogging #Christianblogger #saltlight

My People – Christian Cliques and Segregation in Church – Picking our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

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We can’t pick Christ’s church.

I’ve mentioned this story before, but for the purpose of this subject, I’ll repeat it.   As I sat listening to my sister in Christ, who was almost in tears, lament that she was asked to leave her church ‘small group’ and find one that fit her age, I honestly was at a loss for words but didn’t find it unbelievable. My mind became numb because I found it so shocking that a phenomenon that should die in elementary school with the ‘cool kids’ had survived and been used to exclude some members of Christ’s church for other because someone else though they didn’t fit.   My people.

James 2:1

“ESV My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. “

We should be able to put a bow on this subject with scripture, but that would logically pre suppose that people in church follow, know or care what God’s Word says.  That’s a leap based on current research.
Christians discriminate?  And yet we do.  We find people who look like us, talk like us, and we hang out with those people.  After all, isn’t that Christian unity?  Is it?  If it excludes some less desirable Christian folk for the inclusion of others based on some arbitrary wish list to be a part of ‘my people,’ then no.  It’s favoritism.  It’s a clique.
We should be able to stop there, but we are a selfish people.  We like security, and yet cliques in Christ’s church do not offer it.  Instead, ‘cliques’ are an echo chamber, it’s a like minded, like talking, and like walking type of people who may exclude others because cliques are comfortable with spiritual apathy.   It’s like the group of ‘cool’ kids in the 3rd grade who exclude those that don’t fit, the weird kids.

God’s Judgment and the Law

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

So why do we group up in to cliques?  We are all sinners under the law and receive the same Grace from God?  We are equal.

Should we look to a pastor to address church cliques?  Yes and no.

Does that pastor practice cliques as a way of pastoring the local congregation?  What would that look like?  Does the pastor have a specific group with in the church that they spend the most time with to the detriment of the congregation as a whole?  If the church is so large that the pastor doesn’t even know the families that make up the whole, then that’s another issue all together.   Then the answer is ‘life groups’ formerly identifying as ‘small groups.’  Then that brings us back to my sister in Christ who was asked to leave a group for another one that would fit her better according to their arbitrary opinion.

“You don’t want dads going to a group discussion for moms do you!?  Do you!?”  That’s not arbitrary, that is a group that is tied to God’s creation.  So, no, I am not talking about that.   There is Biblical support for men teaching me, and women teaching women.

So, yes, if the pastor sees or practices clique behavior in the local congregation, that pastor should repent and walk in a way where he doesn’t show favoritism amongst the flock.

So, no, because cliques also live outside the weekly meeting.   Which unchecked, cliques can grow into discord and even church splits. It is up to each one of us to avoid the appearance of favoritism as we move throughout the body of Christ.   It is a counter ‘My People’ mindset, and behaving in a way that is more global, a Christ’s church mindset.

 

So how does this look in life?

Well we know what it looks like in the third grade.  It’s dodgeball day and the coach chooses two captains, and so it goes that each captain gets a turn to choose ‘their team.’  Their people.   Thus comes the judgement by the nine year old captains, the best first and then the least desirable.  And while it could be argued that this is just the way kids are, they see what they see without valuing each kid beyond what they can use them for, (winning).  What we can say is that type of thinking doesn’t belong in Christ’s church, especially with us who are adulting.  (20pts for using cool modern lingo)

We have to figure out who are truly “my people.”   In Matthew 12:48-50, Jesus is very clear that who ever does the will of his father are his brothers and sisters, his family.  His people if you will.    We to expand our biases past who we think are Christians. And without going through the historic church, even the past fifty years in America, the sin of preference or prejudice has crept into Christ’s church.  With the atrocities of racism to something much more innocent like picking ‘my people’ because of age, fluctuating cultural likeness, socio economic status and so on.  We still do it today.

 

So what is a good test?  Do we find ourselves unwilling to see other Christians as important as people we have identified as ‘my people?’

Group of people taking a selfie

1 Corinthians 12 gives us insight into unity within Christ’s church.

“… 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

And finally

 

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave[a] nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So then we see from scripture how we all are one in Christ and should have concern for each other, not just those we have chosen as ‘my people.’  All followers of Christ have become ‘my people.’  So let us consider how we invest in the lives of those in Christ’s church.  Our lives are to be spent here in service to our brothers and sisters in Christ’s church, all of the church.  We have a huge family in Christ, let’s open our arms for all the people of Christ, not just the ones we choose.

 

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Steven Davis is a toasted preacher’s kid, media producer, practicing apologist, and musician.

 

Church should not be fun – It should be more than fun.

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RIGHT!?

I go to church because my kids have fun.

Hearing a parent say, ‘We go to our church because my kids have fun there.  They get to play and run all their energy out.’  And I’d agree, it is important for children to run around, get their energy out.  But what I didn’t hear was any thing related to Bible teaching for her children.  What I didn’t hear was a reason to go a local church versus just heading over to the local park.  Now to be fair, at a local park, you still have to watch your kids.   And I get it, for sure, it’s nice when someone else watches your children, and you can take a break.  No doubt that is a type of support a local church provides.  100 as those nifty cool kids say.

James River Church, which is the location for the title picture is well known for the fun style experience they have.  And granted, his local congregation is quite large.  And many, including himself, point to the size of the congregation and say that proves his methods work.  But what does scripture say?

The Bible doesn’t explicitly come out and say that the goal of a local group of believers, the church, is to have large numbers, like the mega-church movement. What scripture does say is that many will turn away from following Christ because they love the world.  Matthew 24

So what then about ‘Fun?’  What is so wrong with fun at church?   As one pastor puts it, what ever you draw people to the local church with, you have to continue it.  And if it is ‘fun’ filled with excited dopamine saturated fun, then guess what.  You have to top what you did in the past, otherwise people will be disappointed.

So then people are trained to expect to have fun.  People and their fun filled experiences become the focal point.  Sort of like having a monster truck or a male stripper at a men’s conference.  It is the flesh that is the bait, and somewhere hopefully the spiritual will be addressed.

So what is the purpose of the local church. Let’s see what the Bible says:

Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

In this scripture, we find one goal of the church is to suffer with those who suffer, and rejoice when someone is honored.  We are to be a community of people who know each other, a family.  Well, doesn’t entertainment bring people together?  Yes, but it would be no different than a football game, baseball game, or community fair. The churches job is to teach what Christ taught and make disciples. You don’t see Christ managing the 12 disciples against the Pharisees in a pickup game of pickleball.  What is the focus of coming together as a local church?

Well, church shouldn’t be miserable?

Of course not.  If the focus of the local coming together is on Christ, following his teachings and making disciples, then the local coming together will transcend ‘fun’ and become a time that builds up the body focusing on the enduring the temporal struggles of bearing Christ’s cross secure in an eternal hope.

— The church should be feeding the sheep, not entertaining the goats:  Charles Haddon Spurgeon—

Well, shouldn’t we have fun as Christ followers?

Ultimately the end result of prioritizing the flesh, ‘fun’ at a local church is we become very self centered, focused on ourselves.  We are the priority.  We show up in anticipating ‘how will I be entertained at church today?’  #summeratthemovies.  As for children having fun at church, there is a line between children having fun for fun sake and discipling children on their level.  Because if children come to church with the expectation that it is all about fun they grow up and you end up like this;

Should church be boring?  Of course not, but it should be Christ centered, Biblically sound and in the process of making disciples.  Feeding the flesh is contrary to feeding the spirit.  What is the focus of coming together?  Is it to have fun?  Is it to have fun with some Bible sprinkled in?   Or is it to come together in a manner that creates disciples for Christ.  I had a ‘pastor’ once tell me that short of sinning, he would do anything and everything to have people come to his local congregation.  But anything and everything is not what he is called to do.

We have ample opportunities to have fun in the community.   Tomorrow is not promised to anyone.  It could be a person’s last Sunday alive.  And shouldn’t we stay focused on the message of Christ, on a sacrifice of our fleshly desires, on our drive for fun to focus on Christ and Christ alone?  Maybe we don’t want to share.  Maybe we have made an idol out of fun.

Maybe we are addicted to our flesh, the dopamine that comes with church entertainment.  This is what I put my bet on.  Maybe we should remember the Christians in other countries that are dying for their faith as we sit in our stadium seating with fake church lobby coffee.   And ultimately, we should remember that our Savior died a horrible death for our sins and we should at least be able to give him an hour or two. #crucifytheflesh

What is the focus of our local church? Do they focus on me having fun? Do they focus in all parts teaching the Gospel and making disciples? If they do, then we are no longer the focus but Christ becomes the center of everything and others become our service of worship.

Hebrews 12:1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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Steven Davis is a burnt preachers kid, musician, media producer and Bible college drop out.

When the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not enough

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When the Gospel isn’t enough, we must add to it.

 

The Gospel isn’t enough, because we are full of ourselves.  So Jesus dying on the cross, bearing our sins for salvation isn’t enough.  We must do our part by trying hard.  But scripture says;

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 (NIV)

 

The Gospel isn’t enough, because its boring.  It’s not in vogue, so we mush give it a make over.  After all, we still care about our own sense of fashion following the latest clothing trends.  So that old Gospel, well that needs to be flashy, it has to be something that fits the color pattern of our lives.  But scripture says,

1 Peter 2:21

21 For to this you have been called, because Christal so suffered for you, leaving you an example,so that you might follow in his steps. and

Matthew 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 

The Gospel is offensive and might drive people away from God, so we have to make it attractive so we people will seek out God.  But scripture says,

John 6:44

 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

The Gospel isn’t enough, we must live our fullest life today, because tomorrow we die.   But scripture says;

Luke 9:23

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and takeup their cross daily and follow me.”

 

The Gospel isn’t enough, I mean I need to have my group special group of friends.  After all, someone else will help those in need, I’ll just give money.

“Matthew 25:40

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

 

The Gospel of Christ will always be contrary to our selfish will, our pride, our wants.   The challenge is to give up this life for the crown Jesus promises in eternity.

James 1:12

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

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Steven Davis is a burned out preachers kid, musician, media producer, and learning apologist.

Meeting God

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If you want to ‘meet’ God, you can where you are now. You don’t have to go anywhere to meet God. All you have to do is ask him, talk to him, pray.
The teaching that you have to go here or there to meet God does not line up with scripture, God is everywhere you are. #youdonthavetorsvp Jeremiah 23:24 #apologetics

Does the local church create a divide in family discipleship?

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Does the local church create a divide in family discipleship?

The exchange of dialogue is only helpful if that exchange has a point that is potentially beneficial to others. So while it is common in this blog and on the internet to criticize the practices in Christ’s church, this post will hopefully help as we consider our church methods.  I grew up in church as a pastor’s kid, and spent time as a youth pastor, so I’ve seen processes in church from ‘behind the scenes.’  And while that’s important, this post will go beyond my personal experience since, and ask questions in more of a sociological or anthropological expression.

Before moving ahead, I want to address the ‘karen‘ comments.  Since America is the number one country for single parenthood, it would be foolish to say every family that enters the doors of the local church are a mom, dad, two kids with a picket fence. So, the following post is in general, and any responsibilities for supporting discipleship to address non two parent families falls at the doorstep of the local church.   There are always exceptions, but they don’t disprove the rule.

So the premise is, “How Consumer Friendly Churches Create a Disciple Divide in Families.”

  1. Do we care?  In church ministry, what do we care about?  What is the point?  If the point is not biblical discipleship, then there is another point to our efforts in the local church.
  2. What are our methods for Christian discipleship? Scripture tells us to have order, so processes are biblical.  Doing church ‘messy’ which is a fad, is not biblical.
  3. How will we measure the effectiveness of the local church discipleship?

As Christ’s church, how important is the family unit?  Aside from Christ himself, the health of the family should be at the forefront of our discipleship efforts.  I grew up going to children’s church.  Since the children’s building was the original church building, it looked like a mini sanctuary with pews, a pulpit, piano.  And we had our children’s service in the same method as ‘big church.’  What I remember most were the songs we sang, such as Father Abraham. We also had Sunday School on Sunday and then during services like Sunday and Wednesday nights, kids would be in the main service with the adults. So that was my young experience with Christian discipleship.  Your’s was probably different.  Which is why we can’t depend on our individual experiences as proof of success in church discipleship.

So let us address the elephant in the room head on and look deep into his eyes and have an honest conversation.  When a family shows up for the Sunday main service that is to be taught by the pastor, what happens to the family?  As Christians, we say that family is important.  But do we help or hamper the family unit as a local church body?

Scenario #1 The kids go to their age appropriate program and the parents go to the main service that is geared towards them.

Scenario #2 The kids stay with their parents and there is a portion of the adult service that is geared towards the kids.”

A Christian brother of mine was complaining about some of the youths behavior, having to remove them often from the youth service because of their poor behavior.  I suggested that the parents of the ‘trouble makers’ be brought into the youth service so they could parent their children and see the bad behavior first hand.  After all, parents should parent.  Or do parents leave the discipleship of their children up to the local church , just as some leave the education up to the schools?  Proverbs 22:6 gives us the direction.  Parents are to parent the whole child, not subcontract certain sections of child development.  Parents using the local church service to take a break from their kids is the wrong approach and is unlikely to yield any lasting discipleship in their children.  Kids know what is going on.

So how does the local church help parents parent the whole child?

  1. The parents need to know the message their children are receiving.  The writing was truly one the wall at a church we attended when I saw a Christ-less false teaching on the builtin board being taught to young kids.  Do you know what your children are learning at church?  How do you know?  Do you ask?  Do you care? Do you have a strong enough theology to ask the right questions? What would you do if your children are being taught false doctrine?
  2. Is the overall messaging in the local church even biblical?  We know that the consumer friendly local church, especially those who adopt a business model of numerical growth, seek to make the ‘congregation’ happy.   If the adult service isn’t biblical, it is unlikely the approach to children’s church will be.
  3. Is the overall messaging in the local church even for the whole family? And is it seamless? For example;  If the adults learn about Jesus feeding the five thousand, are the kids learning the same in their dedicated message? If not, why not? How is the connection made between the two messages?

So as we return to the two scenarios, we can practically answer which one is better.  If the goal is to make disciples, then why does the local Christian church split the family up?  It can be argued that children learn at a different level than adults, and that is absolutely true.  But that begs the wrong question?   If our approach is to disciple kids on their level, and adults on another level, then what are we doing is doing individual discipleship instead of discipling the whole family. It can’t be any other way if the family is split and never discipled together.

OBJECTION: “But our children’s program is the best around and it the number one draw for people to come!”  I used to think that was important too.  When we were looking for a church, it was my first question, ‘what is your children’s program like?’  But I was asking the wrong question.  I get it, the children’s program that churches do on Sunday morning is a huge investment of time, staff, and money. What I wasn’t asking was, ‘ How does a church disciple my family?’

But what if the Sunday main adult service teaches on Jesus feeding the five thousand and the kids dedicated service does a message, isn’t that family discipleship?  It isn’t.  The family is separated in two different locations. So do we toss our children’s program? Is there another way that the whole family is discipled together at the local church?  After all, just like school education, the parents are ultimately responsible and should be able to reinforce what their children learn.

So the question still remains though; “does the local church create a divide in family discipleship”?  If the local church is not discipling the family unit together, the answer has to be yes.

OBJECTION: “The children won’t understand the pastor’s sermon?”  Well let’s return to Proverbs, who has the primary responsibility of teaching and training their children?  Parents.  As for the approach of the pastor’s teaching, a skillful pastor can adapt the message of the Gospel so even a child can understand. And especially since there are different levels of an education in adults, the simplest expression of the gospel is the best approach.  Not everyone studies hermeneutics.

We attend a Sunday service where the children are invited to stay in the main service.  The pastor will provide a special message to the children at the front.  There is also Sunday school that has a curriculum geared towards the children.  But the main service has the whole family.

What are the benefits to this?

  1. Modeling:  Kids get to see their parents behavior in church.  Kids will do what their parents are doing. If it is important to the parents, the kids will take note.
  2. Questions: When parents are properly taught, they can fill in the blanks when the kids need further instruction.  Again Proverbs 22:6
  3. The local church puts the emphasis back on the family, the support of the family, the focus is back on the parents.

OBJECTION:”Kids don’t behave in adult church.” Well, when will they learn? It is like getting a credit card, but not having credit to get it.  When kids don’t learn to behave in church, it becomes obvious when they get older.  They have to be removed from youth group because of their behavior.  The benefit of having children in church with their parents is parenting their behavior.

Having children in church is something I had to adjust to.  Babies crying, kids squirming is something that I had to work through so to speak.  And what I figured out is, going to church isn’t about me.  It’s about the body of Christ.

What is the problem we are trying to solve?  It is found in the premise, “How Consumer Friendly Churches Create a Disciple Divide in Families.”  The best scenario for family discipleship is to have a method for the local church to hold up the family as the best way to disciple the family itself.  Does the Sunday message need to change for that? If the local church doesn’t have a method for discipling the whole family, then yes.

Why is this important? Because kids are leaving the church.  And the over arching reason is that questions are going unanswered.  Why?  Because in the consumer friendly approach, the most kids get are bible studies on how to be a better person. Consumer friendly churches are asking their consumers on what the speak on, instead of teaching the whole counsel of scripture.  They avoid tough subjects since it will anger people and they may not come back. The goal in consumer friendly churches is to make customers happy.  Of course this is the case, the budget is large and spending money on children’s church set design costs.

Is children’s church bad?  Of course not.  Does it provide family discipleship, nope.   Does your local church have a way of discipling the whole family?  If not, why not?   It is the parents that have the primary responsibility for discipleship of their children.  Yes.  And having them in the main service the only way to do it.  Having only divisional discipleship is subpar and doesn’t benefit the whole family, it creates a divide in family discipleship.

But so what?  Going back to why kids leave the church.  Questions aren’t being answered.  The kids blame the church.  So here comes the anthropological part, if the teaching comes to the family at once, the family discusses it, then there is one message.

But that begs the question, what is the message?  If the church is answering the questions that provide an out for kids to leave the church, then if they do leave still, the church will have successfully discipled the whole family and kept the family, not the local church, at the center focus. Which is how God created mankind to begin with.

 

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Steven Davis is a well done preacher’s kid, musician, media producer, learning apologetic writer.

#apologetics #church #childrenschurch #seekerfriendlychurches #consumerfriendlychurches

 

Walmart Shopping Carts Matter

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Walmart spends millions of bucks on shopping carts each year,

So when you park your car and you see,

Be it One, two or three,

Let’s all pitch in, be you, them or me,

To save us from that awful invisible fee,

And just maybe this year will be the year,

We can get a glorious extra cashier.

 

What’s Our Brand? – What Do We Want People to Know First?

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What’s Our Brand? – What Do We Want People to Know First?

brand logo

Growing up without the money to buy the latest ‘trending’ this or that was a blessing.  Although, growing up without the internet understanding ‘trending’ was also a blessing.  Many of us have a brand whether we want one or not.  But some in our culture push a brand on us.  Think about Amazon, that’s a brand we are all familiar with.  But what about our own brand?  How do we promote our brand?  What is our brand from?  I know people who constantly promote this sports team to the point that’s all they talk about.  One way to find someone’s brand is to look at their social media, if they have one.   We know that employers look at our social media to see what we promote.  That’s our brand.

In the 80’s or so we called this -brand- a reputation.  But today Western Christianity culture has incorporated so much corporate/social media lingo into local churches, it makes more sense to call it your ‘brand.’

When children grow up, what brand do we give them?  Do we push Starwars, Marvel, Barbie as their brand?   As a side note, one side effect of pushing a brand on a child as they grow is, it might limit their own imagination, or affect their personality in a way that mimics the brand, and not something they learn on their own. But that’s a squirrel topic and not the thrust of this post.

And you don’t even have to claim ‘Christianity’ to have a brand.  Atheists have a brand, Agnostics have a brand, Buddhists have a brand, we all have a brand.

What is our brand?  Is it drinking alcohol, partying, YOLO, or is our brand something else?   Good question.  We can change brands as we grow as well.  Maybe in our teen years our brand is ‘x’ and now it’s ‘z’.  Then we look back at our early year brand and shake our heads.  We grow up, our brand changes. Do fans of the University of Alabama have a brand… nope, I’d say they are a cult. Just kidding you lovely rabid Roll Tide people.  Jesus loves you.

As Christ followers, what should our brand be?

Well, an easy answer our brand should be Christ.  But is it really?  What is a good test?  Here is one to think about. – Having been in conversations about Christian topics, I’m often intrigued as to the hero of the Christian conversations.  Or when someone asks us if we are a Christian, is our response true to our brand or do we go off brand in our response.

Question:  Are you a Christian.

Answer:  Yes, I go to ‘X’ church. 

Or is our answer, ‘yes’, I’m a Christian and I’d love to tell you why.  I often see shirts, sunglasses, bumper stickers promoting a local church.   That is their brand.  That’s what they promote.  That church is promoting itself.   But is that what the church should be primarily first?   Of course not.

So what about t-shirts with scripture? Well, that is also a brand.  That promotes God’s word.  What about our speech, that’s a brand as well.  Does our speech promote Christ as followers of Christ, or is our speech ‘off-brand’ of Christ?

So what does it mean to be ‘on brand’?  Well, it means that the message we are trying to convey is consistent with our outward efforts.   Being on-brand means we are true to what we believe. You wouldn’t find a hamburger joint putting, time, money and effort into a commercial about lawn care.  They would put money, time and effort into a message about hamburgers and why they have the best.

In the same way as Christ followers, what brand do we put time, money and effort into?   Is our brand clear to folks as Christ followers?  Or is our brand hidden as Christ followers.  Again, one way to test what our brand is, is to look at someone’s social media.  But we can also look at their lifestyle.  Jesus calls this fruit.  He also called this light and salt.   As Christ followers, our brand is to be akin to Christ.  The Christ found in God’s Word, not the Christ of our making, or even the Christ that our preacher talks about.  We are to understand who Christ is from his Word.

What will we not do without?

A good self test is to examine our lives and see what we are willing to do without and what we are willing to give up.  What’s left in that ultimate decision is our brand.  Jesus requires us to forsake the world for him.  That is the brand he wants us to walk out. I have seen people become quite vitriol in defending Disney, Halloween, even Starbucks, they’ve even included the ‘!’ mark.  Is that their brand?  Or are they just ‘off-brand’ for the moment.

What is our first foot forward?

“I. You are the Salt of the Earth. Matt. 5:13 Jesus in these verse sums up the collected truth of the eight principles of the B-attitudes.
A. What are the properties of salt? The Lord compares true believers with the properties of salt.
1. Salt is used to add favor to food. It has a taste all its own, utterly unlike anything else.
a. When mingled with foods it makes them taste good.
b. It brings out the natural favor of food.
2. It is also a preservative. When added to other substances it preserves them from corruption.”

When asked if we are Christian, what is our first foot forward.  Do we respond with what church we go to?  Do we change the subject?  Does our brand even represent Christ in a way that someone would ask the question?   What is our brand?    Are we honest with ourselves about our brand?  Are we on or off brand?  How close is our brand to Christ?  That takes prayer and examination, and understanding who Christ is in his Word.  Because their are so many brands of Christianity, some on Brand with Christ and some not.  Our brand in Christ has to be founded in his unchanging Word.  So again, what is our brand?

If we are asking that question, we might have a problem already.  The Bible teaches that our lives are not our own as Christ followers.  It should never be our brand.  We don’t develop or own our own brand, just as we don’t own our own lives as Christ followers.  That’s for those who hate Christ, they ‘control’ their lives.  A better question to ask is, “how do I get closer and closer to what Christ teaches?”  How can his brand become mine?

For it was Jesus who gives us hope, who died on a cross for our sins, saved us from an eternal Hell.  Making his brand our brand should be easy.  However we struggle with our greed, our selfishness, life gets busy and we forget about Christ, having a sinful nature warring against our desire.  We should pray to God that he will help us put to death our desire for ourselves and in that we make his brand our brand.  We become salt, we become light because he shines, he seasons our life and encounters with other.  I pray that we all stay on His brand.

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Steven Davis is a well done preacher’s kid, musician, media producer, learning apologetic writer.

 

 

#apologetics #experiencegod #experiencepurpose #theheightschurch #experiencefreedom #makingadifference #blogging #Christianblogger #saltlight

Experiencing God in a Corporate Setting ? Messaging Matters

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Driving by this sign day after day which read “Experience God”, I thought to my self, ‘self, what does that mean?’  I mean it’s a sign that is in front of a building with the word ‘church’ in the name.  It’s a good size building being built and so I looked at some of the other messages of what I could find out about this church based on the messages and marketing signs.  And that will be the subject of this blog post. Messaging Matters.  And before I’m accused of nitpicking, message matters in our Christian testimony.  Words matter.  So I would like to explore this messaging.

At some point in this post, someone might say, well have you been to this church?  How can you judge it based on a few signs?  And of course I can’t.  It doesn’t matter if I go there or not. But if I did go there, it would not change what we will discuss during this time together.  So let’s discuss messaging, and we’ll start first with the big one that was the -rock in my shoe-.  “Experience God”

Experience God

Experiencing God Graphic

I’m guessing this is a rock concert, I actually purchased this off an image subscription. I have no idea what is from. :}

So using the Bible Gateway’s search feature and the phrase, ‘Experience God’, I couldn’t find any scriptures that talk about how to ‘experience God.’  What does that mean?

In Holy Scripture we do find a lot of examples of those who had experiences with God.  For example; the Egyptians experienced God as they drowned in the Red Sea.   Elijah experienced God as he was carried off in a chariot to the sky.   Adam and Eve experienced God’s judgement when He expelled them from the garden.  Balaam’s donkey experienced God when his mouth was opened and started to talk.  If a donkey can experience God, do I need a donkey experience?  What does it mean to ‘experience God’ and how is measured?  What is the proof?  What is the method?

If people are raising their hands, is that how you experience God?  What do we then say about this image at a rock concert?

So what about experience?  What are we to say?  To be honest, we are emotional creatures.  We love our experiences. Some people love roller coasters, some don’t.  Some love watching romance movies, some don’t.   Some people love to watch Rambo circa 1982 over and over and over again, some don’t.

This was a first for me, most churches show their service times. If we follow the logic of the marketing, then we have to assume that people will only experience God, whatever that means, on these three times. Do I sound snippy, nope, messaging matters. Words matter.

So let’s answer question #1:  What does it mean to experience God.

Answer: No idea. If we say our experience is based on us, then we have experienced us.  If we get goosebumps with the music at church, is that how we experience God?  When I wrote Emotion Doesn’t Validate Corporate Worship,  I still get goosebumps thinking about the title song from Moulin Rouge, ‘Come What May.’ In fact, I’m listening to it as I write.  :}  My goosebumps are an emotional reaction. 

A friend of mine told me how awesome their church is.  When I asked what was awesome about it, they said the music is just amazing.  I wonder if that is how one experiences God. Is it good music.

If you are profusely angry at me by now, I’ll understand. And while some of this writing is a bit tongue and cheek, the question remains, what does it mean to experience God at these three Sunday experiences (see sign)?  I have no idea.  Is everyone’s experience the same, is it different, are they experiencing God the same, or is it even the same god?  Unsure.  How is it all measured?

Is this guy experiencing God?

Within the mega-church movement, the building decor has become less religious, more secular, more secular visitor friendly. And let’s be honest, if the word church wasn’t on the bottom of this sign, you’d think this was some type of convention hall. May a new hotel. This trend is on purpose. If there were to have religious symbols, then there is a good chance someone might hold you to your presentation. For the sake of argument, if there was a statue of Mary, then someone might ask you if this church is Catholic.  But without any symbols, any historic church symbols, there is nothing to identify this setting as anything other than a non religious venue.  Something you might see in the the business world.  A type of corporate feel if you will.

Let’s talk about the corporate experience.  We know that experience is very important in today’s corporate environments. After all, you have to keep people happy.  We know that happy people are better workers. We’ve all been to corporate events, they have marketing inside and outside the events, giveaways, maybe live music, door freebies, have greeters who are assigned to different portions of the visitors experience, then you hit the coffee bar, maybe eat a danish, from there it’s off to learn about —insert theme here —.  All of this experience is to make your time memorable.  It’s important that you have a good time.

For good measure, here are – 4 Tips for Planning Corporate Event Entertainment

1. Focus on Creating Memorable Event Experiences

2. Keep an Eye on the Budget

3. Choose Thoughtful Corporate Entertainment

4. Prioritize Your Audience

Let’s move on.

Experience Purpose

Using that pesky Bible Gateway tool again, I couldn’t find the phrase ‘Experience Purpose’ in the Bible.  I know, I know, it’s a modern term.  So let’s chew on the hypothetical. For people who go to these experiences, does someone tell them what their purpose is?  Is it like Elevation Church that has massive volunteer recruiting for the purpose of doing tasks at the church?  Or is it like that false teaching of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life?  I hope not.

Does one have to go to this church to experience purpose?  Or could it be as simple as loving our neighbor which Jesus tells us to do.   What if the purpose I get during this experiential-church conflicts with some other purposes I have already? Which do I choose?  Yes, I’ve gone into silly mode.  And that’s ok, because again, messaging matters, and according to this sign, I can ‘experience purpose’ if I go there. What about the people down at the Baptist church, do they have a purpose?…ok, ok.  I’ll stop.

Experience Making a Difference

Now this message is great! Anyone who sees this, understands that these people are making a difference for the environment.  They are planting stuff and that definitely is making a difference. No plants, no breath ya know.  I know a lot of church organizations have become very environmentally aware.  And since the millennials generation (who by number is surpassing the Boomer generation) is concerned about making a difference in society; this sign about -making a difference- and it’s push for environmental issues is pretty good messaging. #bravo

Experience Freedom

Freedom?  From what?  Unsure.  What does that mean? If I were to infer from thin air, I’d say it has something to do with the freedom found in Christ, freedom from sin.  At least that’s what I’m hoping.  But that requires someone to repent.  So freedom through repentance?  And yes, I know my implications are running on fumes.  I’m just trying to understand this sign. I do wonder if you call the church office if they know what this sign means.  Either way, the king in this sign again is ‘experience.’  That word is pretty important as it is repeated over and over.

The Wrap

So what?  So what’s the big deal?  I’m glad you asked.

No where in Holy Scripture are we taught to ‘experience God.’  And if you go for the experience, you’ll have to go back for it time and time again.  Possibly, you’ll start to equate being a Christian with your experience.  And that’s narcissism and not Christianity.   If we are driven by experience, then anything less than our last experience will just not do.  The dopamine highways in our brain always want more, something new , just like video games, porn and other visual experiences that bombard our brains.

-What you win folks with you have to do and more to keep them.- So if people are coming to a building for an experience, then you’ll have to keep switching it up to keep the dopamine rolling on different highways in our brainage. (yes, I know that’s not a word)

But the bigger question is, ‘why is experience the king here?’  Why isn’t Jesus the hero of this marketing?  Maybe Jesus is taught here, maybe it’s an ‘almost Jesus’ -experience-.  Unsure.  And yes, I could attend, but why, the folks at this church seem to think ‘experience’ is the most important if we judge by the marketing.  I’m supposed to come for the experience. That’s emotionalism, that’s hype.

Finally, God is everywhere, omnipresent.  My purpose is given to me to love on others because of God’s grace to me. My freedom is found in Christ.  And making a difference, well we can do that anywhere.  No secret sauce can be found on the other side of these road signs, but I’m sure the experience is something else for sure.

So what? What’s your beef?  Because message matters.  Words matter.  With so many ‘churches’ moving away from orthodoxy to experienced based church, it should be a warning to us when a church bases so much on ‘experience’, something so subjective, something that is so focused on us. We should want Christ more than experience.  It is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have all we need.   It is the Gospel that we can hope through good experiences and bad experiences in life.  It is also in the Gospel that we can judge any experience we have.

Does this church preach the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ, one of repentance through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross for all of our sins?  I dunno.  All I know is that based on this marketing, it’s Experience that is the most important message they want us to know.  And that’s no reason to go, not when there is so many theme parks around an hour away.

 

Steven Davis is a well done preacher’s kid, musician, media producer, learning apologetic writer.

 

 

#apologetics #experiencegod #experiencepurpose #theheightschurch #experiencefreedom #makingadifference