07/25/2026
"One of the reasons the American church is struggling is because we spent decades training people to think like consumers, then acted surprised when they started shopping.
Consumerism asks:
Which church has the best music?
Which church has the best kids program?
Which church has the best facilities?
Which church has the most staff?
Which church has the best coffee?
Which church lets me show up, sit down, receive, and leave?
Those questions are normal to us now.
But they are not the questions of discipleship.
Discipleship asks:
Where is Christ calling me to belong?
Where is Christ calling me to serve?
Where is Christ calling me to sacrifice?
Where is Christ calling me to use my gifts?
Where is Christ calling me to be formed?
Where is Christ calling me to help strengthen what is weak?
That is a major difference.
Consumerism looks for a church that requires less from me.
Discipleship joins a church where Christ can require more of me.
Consumerism says, “I want a place where everything is already done.”
Discipleship says, “Maybe God brought me here to help build.”
Consumerism says, “I do not want to volunteer.”
Discipleship says, “The body needs every part.”
Consumerism says, “I want community.”
Discipleship says, “I will help become the kind of person who makes community possible.”
And this is one of the reasons smaller churches are dying at alarming rates!
In a larger church, it can be easier to disappear.
You can show up.
Drink coffee.
Enjoy the music.
Drop off the kids.
Listen to the sermon.
Leave without being needed.
But in a smaller church, that usually does not work.
People have to serve.
People have to help.
People have to notice needs.
People have to carry weight.
People have to pitch in.
People have to be part of the body.
And for people formed by consumer Christianity, that is a problem.
Consumer Christianity taught people to go where they can receive the most and be required the least.
But Jesus never called us to consume the church.
He called us to become the church.
That is why the American church is dying
We trained people to shop.
Now they are shopping.
We trained people to consume.
Now they are consuming.
We trained people to evaluate the church by what it offers them.
Now they are leaving churches that need them.
I wrote more about this in the article linked in the comments." James Bell
