I have been thinking a lot about consumer Christianity lately. It seems to me that rather than the church transforming the world, the opposite has happened and the world has transformed the church. This is profoundly true in our consumer approach to church. Churches now rather than developing an identity and core set of ideas then leading and doing ministry out of those values seem to be focused on attracting and retaining people. We treat church like McDonald’s and even use phrases like “church shopping.” Whatever happened to joining a community of faith and then sticking it out, being a part of the community as much as possible recognizing that you can be a part of problems and solutions. We say things like “I did not get anything out of that sermon,” or “I just am not getting fed” as if church is a restaurant or big box store. Evangelism has become a fancy religious way to say marketing. Of course we do not want to be a church who does not care for people, but do we trust God? Do we trust that if we listen to the best of our ability, and seek to find and live our identity in Christ that God will bring the right people to us? Do we believe the analogy of the vine and that God will grow, prune, and help us bear fruit? The church can never be more attractive or entertaining in the world. We simply cannot compete on that level. The good news is that we are not called to. We have the same gospel message that has endured and will continue to endure, and if we do our best to live that out and offer that to others, our churches will be as they should and we can save McDonalds for lunch.