I think the whole thing is quite disgusting, but I'm not
surprised to hear about all of it. It seems that many evangelicals have been
happy to make the dollar part of *their* Trinity. I suspect that things will
continue to develop in this direction. We already have changed centuries-old
worship practices to suit the desires of people. Churches compete against one
another with different services as well as para-church
benefits (babysitting, a church gym, coffehouse,
etc). To me, and I mean no offense to any one person, but this is another
example, and perhaps a prophesy, about how the
Evangelical movement is becoming more and more wed to the world instead of
ministering to it.
On a side note, there was an episode of the Simpsons
a few years back where the church had to get corporate sponsors to keep the
church running. They had banners hanging up in the sanctuary like some kind of
baseball stadium and the minister said something like, "The following
sermon was brought to you today by Wheely
Tires." I can't wait.
I cite the Simpsons Episode entitled
"She of Little Faith" http://www.snpp.com/episodes/DABF02
Homer and Bart blow the church up in a model rocket accident. To rebuild the
church they make a deal with Mr. Burns who hires a lady who “guarantee[s] I can
find some new revenue streams. Step one: Let's sell some ad space. Reverend,
how would you feel about wearing this robe? [holds up
a robe with "Fatso's Hash House" embroidered on it.” The church is
rebuilt with money changers and advertisements. It is a must see critique of
this issue. Lisa compares the new church to the whore of
Before I ever read a comment I thought of this Simpson’s episode
myself! If that doesn't reveal something about us all (smile). Don't forget
that in the episode Lisa turns to a Buddhist temple for solace and there finds
Richard Gere meditating! In the course of the episode
the wise mentor/actor explains to Lisa that Buddhism respects diversity (unlike
Christianity--implied not stated) and she cements her faith in her new
religion. Clearly this episode portrays Christianity as the sell-out faith and
Buddhism as an untarnished religion. But maybe we need to hear the message
being conveyed here?
However, there is certainly nothing wrong with Christians writing books or
directing films (Left Behind and Jabez aside). Just
because people pay money for the product doesn't make it evil in itself
(although I'll be the first to admit I sometimes become nauseous in Christian
bookstores). Influence is a sign of success and having the ear of
As far as corporate sponsorship, I'm sure we'll all agree it must be banished
and/or barred from the local church and denominations (as Lisa Simpson has
shown).
However, I know of a lot of Christian colleges that sponsor youth retreats, denomiaitonal conventions, etc. Or take for example
Christian companies like Zondervan sponsoring
Pastor's conventions... Why couldn't a secular company sponsor a National
Pastors Convention--they already sponsor our beloved music concerts. Is
something inherently "evil" simply because it is "secular"?
I happen to like Diet Pepsi, about as much as (name your Christian college)--so
why not have them sponsor the next youth convention?
I'm not too dogmatic on this issue, I'm just
advocating a different perspective than the reponses
posted.
Daniel said...
This article made me sick to my stomach and made my heart ache.
It reminds me of Jesus's tirade in the temple. $8.6
billion is enough money to fully fund global anti-hunger efforts for 4 months
(source: http://costofwar.com ... after some simple division).
Granted, God is an entity of infinite resources. On that thought, could
corporate sponsorship be