Back when I was a teenager Mad Magazine was very popular. It tended toward sophomoric and adolescent humor, but it did have some good satire and cultural commentary. It also had a unique feature you didn’t see in any other periodical, not even the comic books from DC or Marvel. That is until it was bought out by Time Warner at the original publisher’s death. Mad Magazine had no advertisement. From cover to cover all it had were jokes and cartoons. In the 70’s, Mad’s publisher was interviewed by the tv show 60 Minutes, and he was asked why no advertisers? He answered that they satirize and lampoon a lot of American institutions, among them corporations, and it is impossible to have the independence to do that if your taking money from them.

We can see this problem rise up in the church. Melissa Dougherty in her podcast told of hearing the prosperity “gospel” preacher Jesse Duplantis tell how other preachers disparage his message (and him) until he gives their church money. Megan Basham has written the book Shepherds for Sale about this same problem. (Full disclosure, I have not read the book but only its summary.) In it she describes how various mega churches have watered down Christ’s message because they’ve received donations from groups that want to silence them on certain topics. And this is not just an American problem, Jamie Bambrick from Ireland tells in his most recent podcast how he felt compelled to resign from a UK mega church for some of the same reasons. Although in his case he didn’t mention any specific donations, just the push to maintain growth in numbers. Still, it seems to hint at money, as in “keep them coming back and keep them donating.” To be honest, my fellowship is one that seems to avoid the glitz seen in mega churches, but in the last twenty years I’ve attended two congregations that have ranged from 400 to 800 members. Thinking back in that time I can’t recall a single sermon about sin in general or specific sins. We have avoided the self-help sermons of Joel Osteen and have stayed biblical, and truth has been taught, but certain topics have been avoided.

Don’t get me wrong I think budgets and good “business practices” are helpful tools for the modern American church, but there are times we forget the church is not a business. Truth should always come before growth and the budget. We have to recall that in John’s Gospel, Jesus sacrificed a lot of his followers to the truth, when he told them that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, many left. We must also be ready to sacrifice growth and budget for the truth.

#MegaChurch, #Growth, #Truth