Protestants More Loyal to Their Favorite Toilet Paper Than to Their Church
January 15th, 2009
Soundbite:
"On the Protestant side, there are scores of different denominations,
with some of them fairly similar in practice and theology," he noted.
"The story of this research is that many Protestants may not see a lot
of difference among some of these denominations. It may not be lack of
loyalty so much as it is the presence of so many options that is
causing Protestants to be about as loyal to a brand of toothpaste or
bathroom tissue as they are to their church denomination."
Now, gentle readers, what does this mean for a church's mission and outreach strategy and its own internal emphasis on what makes it unique?
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Categories: American Protestantism
Ummmm, that we need to use cute cartoon bears in our advertising? And hand out Reach toothbrushes with our logo on them?
(I’m kidding, of course.) It sounds like we should be gently unapologetic about our Confession. As a mom, I would also want to be sure that my child grows up knowing exactly how our church is different from others.
Too many leave without know WHY or WHAT they are leaving. It is not politically correct to point out differences – “We’re all Christians!” after all, and so too many don’t even know that there ARE differences.
1) On the theological side, it means catechesis, catechesis, catechesis!
2) On the practical side, it means giving people a sense of identity. While a traditional liturgy may be better at expressing certain theological truths, this is not a hard and fast rule, rather, what I believe tradition is most beneficial for is giving people a sense of identity. One need only look at the Catholic church: though their traditions and liturgy are twisted with a lot of incorrect theology, they have been giving Catholics a strong sense of identity for aeons, that is unmatched in the Christian world. Even though most Catholics don’t believe most of the stuff their church teaches, why do they stay? The Mass, the traditions, etc.
My 2 cents anyways.
This brings out a good point: that many of today’s Christians (whether Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestants, or Pentecostal/Charismatic) are NOT well catechised and taught what their church (or tradition/confession/denomination) teaches.
I wonder if this lack of knowledge is emblematic for Christian’s lack of Bible knowledge ?!?
Simple explanation: When you buy toilet paper, you have a reasonable expectation that what you purchase will actually be the commodity you paid for.
I would like to say that this is the fault of the churches not remaining true to who they really are. In otherwords, as Lutherans we should remain Lutheran and not try to be and I hate using this word because in this group the Gospel is only partially present”Evangelical”.
The watered down sappy,happy,clappy circuses are what they are and the mission of these places to bring people to Christ is little more than windowdressing followed by sanctification before justification.
Then you have Liberal Protestantism,who are becoming apostate a little more each passing year and there is the absence of Christ.
If it isn’t all about Jesus and what he did for you it isn’t church and it is no wonder people can’t see really any difference. When Christ and the Scriptures are not put at the forefront and instead you have Rick Warren and the purpose driven tripe, happy little worship ditties,Cokes during church, and then the apostasy movement of McClaren,Bell, Spong and others. It is no wonder people say ther is no difference between the churches and we all believe the same. It is time to distinguish who we really are than who we are not. Pastor Harrison is right when he says, “Its about time”.