When you think about attending church, what motivates you to go? What stands out that sets your church apart from other churches? What about the church stands out and draws you there? Whether you attend Power Verb Church or First Baptist Hometown, specific distinctives draw you there. But how do we develop the criteria we use to choose a church? In 1993, sociologist George Ritzer published The McDonaldization of Society. In his book, he argued that the fast-food industry has infiltrated society in four key areas: Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability, and Control. To say that the church has remained unaffected by this shift would be naive. The question before us is how much.
Efficiency
Ritzer generally sees efficiency as an advantage.[1]
Essentially, it seeks to find the single, optimum method for completing a task.
In a fast-food model, this means moving a customer from hungry to full as
quickly as possible. In the church, it becomes the most effective way to
attract new visitors. What then is the optimum means to that given end? Well,
this approach inevitably pushes us toward a seeker-sensitive approach. Rather
than equipping saints for evangelization, we send people out with business
cards, bumper stickers, and T-shirts to invite. We are fulfilling the lesser
commission, “go and make disciples of my church brand.” Now, I am not saying
that those things are bad in and of themselves. I am just drawing attention to the
motivation.
Calculability
Calculability is the quantification of any number of
activities.[2]
The church has slipped into the darkness of emphasizing quantitative aspects-
church size, budgets, and number of guests- over the subjective quality of
spiritual growth, textual faithfulness, and spiritual legacy. Within the
Western church, “big” is equated with “good,” while “small” is viewed as “bad.”
The local church’s effectiveness is
measured by how dynamic and attractive the service is, rather than by the
craftsmanship of its faithful discipleship work. This should not be the case.
Predictability
At its heart, predictability is the consumer’s peace of mind.[3] In essence, the church's experience takes precedence. Within the church, we find a plethora of books and blogs on “growing a church.” They ensure services and experiences are identical from week to week. The emphasis is on keeping the congregation’s experience and response the same. A Big Mac tastes or feels the same whether you are in New York, Tokyo, or a highway rest stop. Similarly, the worship mimics the radio version of the song, and the sermon apes the YouTube reel of that one guy who is all the rage right now. Same tone, same feel, same experiential approach to church. The problem is that when we make the experience the primary, Christ invariably becomes secondary. As Charles Spurgeon famously stated, “A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it.”
Control
The greatest measure of unpredictability within society is people, hence the need for control.[4] This principle shows the lengths some church models go to reinforce a consumerist approach by providing “cues of what is expected of them.”[5] Replacing human judgment and unpredictability with systems and strict scripts has produced what is commonly called celebrity pastors. Not all famous pastors are bad, but I caution against wholesale consumption of what they purport. As believers in Christ, we are called to wisdom and discernment. The clearest sign of this principle is that Christians have taken the church's norms for granted and often follow them blindly, without pause or reflection. This is why, when pastors get caught in some moral failing, shock often follows; many dismiss the accusations wholesale and refuse to acknowledge the wrong. The church's tangible control on earth rests with the congregation.
The Irrationality of Rationality
Ritzer calls the irrationality of rationality the negative consequences of the McDonaldization of Society.[6] Essentially, the central paradox of the McDonaldization of the church is that the extreme rationalization of the “normal church” often produces the irrationality of “unbiblical practices” within the church. In other words, the church system ends up acting against the very people it is supposed to serve. The church, then, begins to dehumanize the people and over-emphasize the man in the pulpit. The church becomes consumeristic, and interactions become cold, mind-numbing, and devoid of genuine human connection.
The result is inefficiency and error in God’s economy and purpose. Pomp and circumstance often numb the church to its mission, create gospel roadblocks, impose long-term hidden costs on people's investment, and ultimately lead to theological mistakes that hurt and even damn people.
Finally, the church loses the unique local gathering God intended. We lose God's creativity in making us the body. Homogenization replaces local variety, individual agency, and cultural uniqueness with global sameness. We stop being expressions of the body of Christ. We look to the pastor or paid staff to “get the job done” while we consume the lights, fog machine, 3-points, and a poem message on how to live a better life. I just recently discussed the body of Christ with my men’s small group. In my infinite ADHD, I had a random thought and blurted it out without even processing it. As the pastor of the local congregation where God has placed me, I am the big toe. I am big and awkward, get slammed into things all the time, but I bring balance (through the teaching of the Word).
Conclusion
Friends, at the heart of the church is God's mission to save the lost. We should pursue evangelistic efforts that recapture the heart of the Gospel—Christ’s sacrifice, which allows all sinners to find salvation and peace with God through repentance and faith. This is the whole church's responsibility. Let us begin to fervently seek the lost for Christ’s Glory. Let us not allow the modern aesthetics of the local church to become the main thing. Let us wisely employ all means to equip the saints for the task of seeking and saving the lost.
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