Jesus is not a Product

Yesterday, I watched a preview for a special by CNBC about God and Money and how the evangelical movement is gaining more and more political and economic power. In the segment, which was grantedly only a few minutes long and I didn't get to see the actual program, they show mega-churches with "mega-pastors" speaking to tens of thousands. There was one thing that really bothered me.

I am familiar with his name, but have never heard anything about him and haven't read any of his books: T.D. Jakes. In an interview, he said, speaking about mega-churches and the growth of evangelicalism, "I think that Jesus is the product, and when the product is excellent, it doesn't require a big sales pitch." While he main mean well (saying that Christ really is the focus and not all the materialism/consumerism that seems to go with Christianity in America), saying that "Jesus is the product" just rubs me the wrong way. I don't like the way that sounds, I don't like what I think it implies. I'm sorry (actually, I'm not sorry at all, but quite thankful for it), but Jesus Christ is not a product at all. He is not like a CD or car or fancy commodity that is invading culture. I think it bothers me when Jesus, who is God, is put up for sale, as it were. He does not fade with time like other products, and Christ offers true life and love, something I haven't seen in Target recently. There is no early-bird sale, no low-interest incentive, and no mail-in rebate.

Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing. But maybe when well-known Christian leaders in America start saying things like "Jesus is the product" we realize just how far away from the true message of Jesus we really are. When we start saying that Jesus is a product, we are simply encouraging an already consumer- and material-obsessed culture to see Christ in the same way, as something we need for this season or to fit this need, but hey, if Jesus is out in the spring and Mohammed is the new fad next year, then I guess that's fine too.

On a completely different subject, today my good friend Taylor Skiles turns 18!!! Happy Birthday my Nepali friend!