Friday, December 30, 2005
Churches as businesses
In recent weeks I have focused some attention on the tragic alliance between religion and politics, and how this relationship provides further evidence of the problems inherent in religion. Jesus offered a different approach, but even among Christians this seems to have been lost.
Another growing area of uneasy relationship is between Christianity and business. I have posted before on this topic (See "The Church Makes Business Week's Front Page" and "Mega-Christianity"). Now The Economist, the highly regarded international business magazine, has published an article, "Jesus, CEO" (December 3, 2005 issue), which examines how "America's most successful churches are modelling themselves on businesses". It's conclusion: "The merger between business and religion has been fabulously successful in America".
The problem with the mixture between the church and business is not merely a matter of technique or business processes themselves. The problem is that Christianity has become "big business" and in order to sustain itself it depends heavily on business skills and approaches. In these cases, the church is no longer seen as a radical, alternative to the values and systems of the world, but appears to have aligned itself out to these prevailing forces.
Jesus came to turn the existing structures of the world upside down, in favor of a new world order, "The Kingdom of God". Has Christianity sold itself out?
