We search for the best mutual funds to serve us with the greatest return. We join health clubs with the best equipment and professional staff. And if we don't get what we want, we go to another bank, a different fund, or join another club. I hate to say this, but this consumerist attitude has also infested the church, not intentionally but almost unconsciously. People, no longer committed to denominations as in the past, are willing to shift their membership to a new church that best fits their needs.
People go searching for the church that best fits their needs.
It happens here and in every community in America. People 'shop' for the best Sunday morning schedule, the church with the best youth program, the best choir, the best church school. People shop for the most entertaining worship services, the church with the friendliest members, the most stimulating adult education programs and Bible studies, a strong mission program, and for a minister who gives consistently good sermons every week. If a church doesn't offer these services, or if changes occur in emphasis, or if one area of special interest becomes weak, then members are quick to take their business elsewhere or withhold their pledge. Churches, then, worry about programs and services, about whether or not they are a place where people will buy what we have to sell.