Smorgasbord Church

Smorgasbord Church

(An excerpt from the book The Orphan Church)

The free market system has excelled nowhere more than in the expressions of Christianity in the West. A particular intersection a few blocks from our house sports churches on three of its four corners. Consider this: three churches mere feet from each other. Most rational citizens— especially someone who manages a business— would say that two of three churches are redundant and unnecessary. And any sane person might ask why cannot we consolidate three into one? After all, even the Trinity is three in One. Why cannot these three become one? However, if you were to ask a parishioner if they could merge with the church across the street,  it would become painfully evident that the possibility of consolidating three churches into one church is preposterous because, “We are Baptists and they are Lutheran.” 

All Americans (and some in other parts of the world) can pick and choose whatever church they want to attend on any given Sunday according to what they feel is best for them. Attending church has become like shopping for a car, a used car at that. This one has leather seating, that one has GPS navigation, and it seems that this one over here met with a fence post and lost. The only thing missing is the used car salesman. The difference between car shopping and church shopping is that the commitment for buying a car is pretty well predetermined (scheduled payments) whereas being a part of a modern church community involves only what commitment and contribution a parishioner feels like doing. 

Some have taken this “smorgasbord” approach to church to a whole new level: there now exists a “church hookup culture” that allows a person to obtain benefits of church without any commitment. First this week we will consume whatever worship and preaching is offered at this church (because it has a special speaker), and next week we will dine somewhere else, and the week after that, we go fishing. And when Aunt Martha is in town, we will take her to see the ginormous new church building on the north side of town because it is as spectacular as the other tourist sites in town. And ultimately we usually go somewhere else. This phenomenon of transient-ness within churches became more evident to me while sitting in the same seat for six months every Sunday and noting that every week I met new and different people, many of whom have never attended this church before or in the last few months. If there is an “elephant in the room” regarding modern western Christianity, this is it: it is all very fluid.  

This raises a glaring question: is smorgasbord the best way to do church? Certainly the free market church dynamic provides a variety of good things to choose from, and those startup churches that do not make it in the free market— like every other failed business— just goes away. Competition among churches (like competition among businesses) forces churches to compete for a following. Why should they not compete for their business like every other business? Free market church compels pastors and church staff to be at their very best every Sunday  in order to actively and consistently demonstrate to every visitor their church is worthy of their attendance and support by providing the best: the best childcare, the best youth group, the best women’s discipleship and on and on. So much can be said about the free market church system as it forces churches to cater to the marketplace. This is great, right? Or is it?

My next question is this: will the wonderful “smorgasbord” of churches always be here? And what will happen to all the happy church shoppers if and when the smorgasbord is shut down? Or will they even miss it? Now, why would we want to think about these questions?  Because things are changing, and the American way of life which provides the environment for the smorgasbord to thrive may not be as permanent as we think. 

Here is another question I would ask: is the smorgasbord church the way that Christianity was supposed to be expressed through to begin with?  Three different churches at one intersection, and all proclaiming the same Christ? Is this what the Church has always been? Is this what Paul had in mind? Is this what Jesus had in mind? Is this what St. Augustine had in mind? I dare say our current situation in the church market place is even drastically different than just 75 years ago. 

In fact, if you know anything about Church history, you know that for a thousand years there was only one brand of Christianity. And then for another 500 years there were only two choices of what form of Christianity you wanted to be a part of, and to leave one and go to other branch required that you pick yourself up and move to another part of the world; oddly enough— when you got there— you would find something very similar to what you left behind. 

The smorgasbord church is a very recent phenomenon; it is one of those inconsistent elements that will come and go in the same way that the inquisitions, the selling of indulgences, and the tent revivals all came and went. The smorgasbord is a cultural phenomenon and is non-existent in many parts of the world. If the first1500 years of church history, shows us anything, it is that smorgasbord church is not normal and will not last.

While reading this material my readers are wondering the purpose of discussing what cannot be changed about our current church market situation. But I would ask: is the “smorgasbord church” here to stay? Will it always be here? I think not. Things will change; they always do. Nations, with their inherent cultures, come and go but the Church will always be here, but it will not always be here in the same variety as we know it today; some forms of Christianity become extinct.