Living in a consumerist society can be a struggle for churches, because their members unwittingly bring that attitude to bear when choosing a place to worship. Is this church meeting my needs? Do they have a really well-run nursery/youthgroup/coffee corner, etc.? Instead of seeking to serve, they are looking for the church to serve them.
Quoted by The Dying Church:
"If the church were a business we would measure our profit and if we weren’t making enough we would change. If we were a hospital we would measure how many of the sick and injured become healthier. If we were a vocational training institute we would measure how many people get jobs and keep them in their area of training.
Now imagine a school that measured how much people enjoyed the classes, how great the day care was, how inspiring the teacher was, the levels of enrolment and the amount of funding they had but only passively cared about the success of their graduates in the workplace. That my friends describes most of the church in North America today.
We need to change what we measure and how we measure our success.
· Do people have a proper understanding of the gospel?
· Do they love the people that can offer them nothing in return?
· Are people willing to sacrifice for others?
· Are people becoming more like Christ in their values and behaviour?
· Do they have life and freedom?
If we considered these things, we would realize the state we are in and we would change. As long as we measure things based on our own personal satisfaction or by the markers of organizational success we will miss the point."
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