Coronavirus Could Kill Consumer Christianity ▸

In this fantastic article by Brett McCracken, he argues that some of the potential positive effects of COVID-19 is that it’s likely to kill off “consumer Christianity” in mainstream churches - in effect, boiling down the excess. He also makes the point about this weekend that there were supposed to be lavish and sensational Easter services - and now there won’t be.

…coronavirus has rapidly taken away the excesses of church, all the bells and whistles, all the nice-to-haves we’ve come to see as must-haves. What remains are bare essentials: Jesus, the Word, community, prayer, singing. What remains is the reality that the church can never be vanquished: we are Christ’s body and will live eternally with him. Things are suddenly spartan in how we do church—but what we are remains as vibrant as ever.

In lots of our churches, the programs have taken precedence, not serving others. We’ve been giving to the church out of a sense of what we will get in return, and now we don’t have that.

How will the church react when all this is over?