Church®: A Disenfranchised Christian's View of Ecclesia Americanus
Chapter 2: One Church, extra Cheese, please--Christian Consumerism Pt. 1
Outline (*note: I've changed the order of the chapters. I've moved Chapter 2 -- Pastor®:Ministry and the Hired Gun to Chapter 4, and moved 3 & 4 on Christian consumerism to 2 & 3. It flows better.)

--Getting Fat in America
Consumer America
McChurch...the mall of ministry variety
Personality Pastors

--Marketing vs. Evangelism
Tapping into consumer America's felt needs

--Quick, Easy and Self Centered
5 steps to a healthy marriage
"buddy jesus" and the consumer oriented Gospel

--It's Got a Good Beat and I can Dance to it
Broadway and Christianity...the Show must go on! (Frasier and Ed)
Entertaining the masses or Entertaining Masses
Ranking

Resources: Future of Church, Affluenza, Culture Jam, Dogma,

Chapter 3 "The Christianity of Events--Christian Consumerism Pt. 2

--The Discipleship of Hype
The hidden danger of mission trips, retreats, conventions and other Christian inventions
The Hummer and 40-somethings

--Performances Require Performers
roleplaying christianity
the new discipleship

--Elvis has left the Building
the resultant crises of consumer Christianity
emptiness, apathy, cynicism
the hunger for something real and the inability to discern it

Resources: Yaconelli...Messy Spirituality and other Articles, Hot Tub Religion, Cost of Discipleship, the Trivialization of God

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posted by Jimmy at 7:58 AM | |