People have described some of the contemporary practices within evangelicalism as being driven by consumerism. We can see evidences of this with many of the popular devices that are employed, whether it be in the altering of vocabulary, the transition from preaching to conversations, the emphasis upon felt needs rather than spiritual needs, the polling of unbelievers as to how church should be conducted, a deemphasis upon doctrine, a redefinition of Jesus as weak and effeminate, and an idolatrous portrayal of a God who’s love is able to trump his righteousness. Regrettably, all of these things are common today.
Even here in Omaha we have seen a confessional evangelical church, with a history of teaching the Bible, hang up pictures of the Pope and encourage believers to be more like him. Proponents of this type of reproachable compromise argue that such things are done to attract the large Catholic community that surrounds the church.
In effort to create something that is universally accepted by all, even unbelievers and heretics, such people are unwittingly making themselves irrelevant. The church is supposed to be different, we are supposed to have distinct contours that reflect our God who has called out us of the world and given us the same message to proclaim to a world who does not know him.
