Consumerism

Does this sound familiar?

Our system understood the "hook" we had into their [parishioner] lives and essentially coerced them to do all the things they didn't want to do: attend regularly, give us money, and keep their kids in religious education. We kept dreaming up new rules to try to make the system work for us while they kept figuring out new ways to circumvent our rules to make the system work for them. The result was the mutual cynicism to which a consumer mentality can easily lend itself. Author Dallas Willard believes, "The consumer Christian is one who utilizes the grace of God for forgiveness and the services of the church for special occasions, but does not give his or her life and innermost thoughts, feelings, and intentions over to the kingdom of the heavens. Such Christians are not inwardly transformed and not committed to it." (Rebuilt, Fr. Michael White and Tom Corcoran, p. 18-19)

We face a consumer culture in our churches. The people in our pews want sacraments, and we tell them what they have to do to get them--go to youth group all but two Sundays of the year, attend this retreat, fill out these forms, learn these prayers, and you will get the grace you're requesting. Especially in Catholic churches, an exchange of goods seems to be the center of attendance instead of an encounter with the living God present in Word, Sacrament, priest, and people. When did this happen? And how?