We're Consumers, Not Juveniles: a Response to the recent Christianity Today Cover

         The current issue of Christianity Today has a cover article, entitled "Forever Young: The Juvenilization of the American Church. When are We Going to Grow Up?" The article is by Thomas Bergler, who wrote a book of a similar title. I picked it up, thinking it'd refer to Christians' (and even Christian leaders') struggles with biblical or even basic immaturity in our leadership and witness during this politically-charged year in this individualism-worshipping society.

          Nope.

          In the article, Bergler rightfully notes how the average transition of an American citizen into adulthood has drastically changed in the past century. He feels the Church has adapted to this shift by questionably modulating its worship music, service format, message content and even general ministry philosophy to more of an adolescent-friendly format. He acknowledges the success thereof, but he warns of the potential aftereffects.

          Bergler's article has some good points and makes a good argument, but he fails to define his main terms, muddling his message. Namely, if he consistently maintained the aspects of the "adulthood" that's lacking as "responsibility, self-denial, and service to others," then I would agree wholeheartedly, as those are aspects that we urgently need to teach and promote in our church families against our consumerist and individualist society. But Bergler's aspects of non-adulthood (which he calls "juvenilization") spill over into what isn't considered American professionalism. If, in Bergler's eyes, a more grown-up church involves dressing up in one's Sunday best, worshipping to what's considered by Western society to be more "sophisticated" music, and listening to more academic and jargon-oriented sermons, then that's arguably even farther from the approach we see in the New Testament's Church.

          Bergler also, I think, might have oversimplified and downplayed the vast (and sometimes effective) efforts by the Church to communicate to our complex and changing culture (from Youth for Christ to the Emerging Church). This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine: When Christians in our country bring the Word of God to vastly diverse and contrasting cultures overseas, using proper translation, hermeneutics and ethnomusicology, it's supported mission. But when Christians in our country want to use almost the exact same methods to communicate to a local subculture (e.g. postmoderns, people that really enjoy pop rock) that, strangely enough, isn't taken to extrabiblical traditions and Christian jargon, it can be prejudicially deemed as unsupported compromise of the Gospel. I'm getting off my soapbox now.

          This article makes some good observations about how the Church needs to be counter-cultural in teaching adulthood, leadership, community and self-sacrifice against our self-serving and often leader-less society where God is only used for random, individual emotional needs. This is the battle against the Church's tendencies to consumerism, not juvenilization. I feel Bergler let some ol' fashioned, American, extrabiblical and unnecessary aspects of adulthood slip into his agenda. 

          It seems every movement has some positive effects and negative aftereffects. We're still learning, as a Church, through biblical study, cultural exegesis and prayer, to increase the former and reduce the latter. The good news for Bergler (and me) is that I strongly sense that the megachurch model is on its last leg.