On Christianity and Commercialism

With all of the hype regarding Mel Gibson's The Passion, I can't help but to take a few minutes to vent/wander on here about the intermingling of Christianity and commercialism. Personally, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I feel the need to spit it out. Here we go...

Throughout time, the Christian church as we know it has used methods and practices of secular culture to promote the Gospel. In the early days, to appeal to the pagan world Roman culture, the cult of the saints, largely replaced god/goddess worship. Diverting worship from mythical deities to the martyrs who died for their faith in Christ, was just one practice used in the early church. The introduction of the arts, music, and dare I say it DANCE into the church also made its first appearance in these early days. As we trace our finger through history, we have hymns set to bar tunes (like good 'ole Charles and John Wesley liked to do) and outdoor preaching to reach the "common man." I could attach a twenty page paper about the many popular culture methods used by the Salvation Army in its origins to attract followers, all in the name of the Blood and Fire. There was the Jesus movement of the 1970s and the mega-church Willow Creek/Saddle Back movements of the 1990s and early 2000s, all using elements of popular culture to fuel their efforts. I don't doubt that these efforts have changed the lives of some; however, I do question if the negative hype circling around such movements have left a sour taste in the mouth of the Divine.

Here's an excerpt from a paper I wrote on the Paganization of the Early Church:
A question arises, when the sacred and the secular melt so closely together that one cannot tell the difference between the two. Or stretched to a further degree, when does a symbol or teaching mechanism overtake the actual principle and becomes a source of worship itself?

This morning, I watched one of the gazillion national media reports on The Passion of the Christ, entitled "The Greatest Story Ever Sold." It was meant to be comical and outlined a number of collectible products coming out in association with the movie. Come on, now folks. Why do we need to profit off His sacrifice? What's this really all about?

I really do look forward to the movie. It looks like the type of movie that I would go and see even if there was no hype surrounding it. By the way, if you haven't seen The Gospel of John, I highly recommend it. It didn't receive all of the hype because its lack of Hollywood superstar director; however, it's an accurate portrayal of the book, taken literally word for word. It's at our dollar theater now; however, so it might mean you have to wait for it to come out on DVD. Anyway, I digress. I'm sure that this film will be a great evangelism tool, but I fear for all of the extras that will surround it and I'm sick to death of the media hype. All of which I am sure is turning off some folks who might have been on the verge of a decision before all of this started.

I've been the same way with many of the popular books to hit the shelves in the past few years which have hit the best sellers' lists galore. Don't even get me started about my "run-in" with Bruce Wilkinson, who claimed that those who had read his "New York Best Seller's List The Prayer of Jabez" were the "great spiritual giants of our generation" and by the way it was on sale in the resource room! How handy. I don't think I could count how many times he tooted his own horn on that one.... It was scary!

All of this can be summed with the fact that God is beyond us all. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. We can't unravel His mysteries in handy little 10, 15, or 150 paged books. His marvels can't be captured on film. His wonder is not limited to human intelligence and interpretation. He's going to work whether we properly market Him or not and thankfully in spite of all of the profit that folks attempt to make in His name. Would Christ throw down the tables of books, clothing, and other products marketed in His name? I don't know, but it's something to ponder.