An interesting point that was made was in relation to the
third temptation. Here, Jesus is
offered the whole world if he worships Satan. In a sense, it would fulfill Jesus’ mission. He would save the world, but the means
to that end are severely perverted and twisted. Of course, Jesus rebukes Satan, using scripture to thwart
his temptations.
This got me thinking about how various Christians and
churches have gotten caught up in the whirlwind of a “market driven” model a la
Willow Creek, Joel Osteen, or almost any other “megachurch”. Seemingly at these kinds of churches,
there are coffeehouses, cafes, and some even have chain restaurants like
McDonald's or Subway within their walls!
The church where my wife works has also become swept up into this mode
of “quantity beats all”, with a goal of having 250 guests enter their doorstep
over the course of 2014. Mind you,
this particular church has roughly 350 members, a far cry from the thousands a
megachurch typically has.
I have always had my own qualms with churches that operate
like this, but in thinking about Jesus’ temptation, it gives me new pause to
how we do Church. Could we be
feeding people a lie and not the whole truth by luring them in with flashy
lights, projection screens… material fluff? It also gives me pause when I think about Jesus’ words in
Matthew 7:21ff:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. Many will say to me on
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive
out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
It’s a sobering thought to be sure! How can we know we are doing it right,
that we are serving God’s true purpose?
Look at Jesus’ example; he used God’s Word. For me as a Catholic, this includes not only the Bible, but
the teachings of the Church (aka Tradition). One particular passage that has always been with me when
thinking about market driven churches is Matthew 28:19f, which many refer to as
the Great Commission:
“Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and
teaching to obey everything I have commanded you. And sure I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus does not command us to “go and bring people into the
synagogues,” he just says “GO.” He
puts the burden not on our pastors or priests, but on us. We are the disciples, the teachers, the
ones told to go out, the literal meaning of apostle. We don’t need to be great speakers, just great disciples of
Jesus. As St. Francis of Assisi
famously said, “Preach the gospel always.
When necessary, use words.”
