Skye Jethani manages Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal and is a pastor at Blanchard Alliance Church (Wheaton, IL). His new book, The Divine Commodity, discusses how consumerism has affected churches and Christ followers. Upon given the opportunity to ask Skye one question about his new book, I asked:

How can a church best avoid becoming a victim of consumer culture?

His response was:

The short answer is—it can’t. It’s rather like asking how a fish and avoid water or how a snake can avoid getting its stomach dirty. The reality is every person living in the North American culture has been impacted and shaped by consumerism. It is the air we breathe and the bowl we swim in. Therefore, every church is full of members and leaders shaped by the uncontested values and beliefs of consumerism. So, avoidance is not an option unless we abandon our missional calling and retreat to monastic cloisters removed from all popular cultural exposure.

We cannot avoid consumerism, but we can recover from it. This transformation requires processes of deconstruction and reconstruction. This is exactly what The Divine Commodity is about—uncovering how we have all been malformed by consumerism, and how we’ve misconstrued our faith in the process, and prescribing practices (corporate and individual) to reshape us with God’s help into communities that reflect his kingdom more brightly.

My book does not advocate a radical coup within the church or call for a revolution in the church’s structure. It’s not about strategy, systems, or programs. In fact, if nothing ever changes about the way your church operates, you are still able to engage and employ the lessons within The Divine Commodity. I don’t believe we can (or should) overturn our consumer culture. Nor do I believe churches (from the mini to the mega) should just radically revamp their structures. That wouldn’t solve the threat posed by consumerism—it’s a far more elusive foe because the battlefield between consumerism and the Kingdom of God is not external, but within the heart and imagination of every believer.

As consumerism’s grip over you begins to loosen, and you experience the transforming reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” the way you worship, serve, and relate will begin to change. In time, through resources like The Divine Commodity and others, perhaps others will join you in your quest for a richer Christian life. The gospel has always been an incarnate reality, transmitted life to life across the medium of relationship. As this begins to take root within your church, regardless of what the leadership or programming is doing, the message of hope, liberty, and fullness in Christ will spread like yeast through a lump of dough. So, rather than criticizing those still enraptured with Consumer Christianity, save your energy and simply let your life reveal a fuller glory which does not fade.

For Discussion:
- How do you think consumerism has affected the church?
- How do you think a church can best avoid becoming a victim of consumer culture?