Megachurch™️: Watching the Movie for your Book Report

Disclaimer: I want to first acknowledge that this piece is from my personal experience with some statistical touches. It is also speaking about the general sense that comes from the culture of megachurches, especially in an evangelical context. If you’re reading this and you attend a megachurch or a mega-adjacent congregation, I don’t want you to think I am personally attacking you. This is about an overall trend that I think is dangerous. Perhaps you may be moved by my writing or maybe you’ll hate it. I just hope you don’t feel personally attacked.

“the megachurch is to spirituality as a movie is to a book report.”

Over the course of my life, I have spent time in a myriad of church settings. I’ve been a part of small, mid-sized, and mega-sized congregations. For all of the diverse kinds of churches and church sizes, there are positives and negatives. However, the trends of megachurch culture leave a bad taste in my mouth. If I were to give you a summary of what I think this trend is all about, I would say that megachurch culture is to spirituality as a movie is to a book report. When you watch the movie, you’re probably going to skip over a lot of important details for the sake of convenience. The movie takes less time, less thinking, and less active participation. The movie gives you the good feelings of the book without having to do much of the work. But, on your book report, you’re probably not going to get a wonderful score. Obviously, spirituality is not standardized or scored, but it is certainly something that can be abused or neglected.

How Megachurch culture neglects spiritual practice

In the culture of megachurches, spiritual practices are often neglected by what I describe as the spectator/consumer model. According to a research study done by Hartford Institute, nearly two-thirds of attendees at megachurches have been at their church five years or less. This is the case because of a “revolving door” membership. Churches treat most frequent guests at spectators because the crowds are so large, and so the majority of the attendees do not actively participate, much less get to know each other. In this model of church, it is a one-stop-shop for your convenient, weekly dose of bought-and-sold spirituality for the week ahead. The “seeker sensitive” model of church has turned into a death sentence for true community building. The worship services are spectator focused, designed to entertain as a show or a concert would.

What happened to the Table?

“What does it say about our spirituality when we’ve packed Jesus’s blood into a to-go cup?”

One of the most central parts of the Christian experience is the narrative of breaking bread, especially if Jesus is involved. For most folks who’ve grown up in small to mid-sized congregations, you know that breaking bread together is so important. This includes communion, which only 68% of megachurches continue to practice. Even those that do practice it have developed some form of mass distribution of a quick-serve communion package for an “on-the-go” spirituality. The part that breaks my heart the most is the disappearance of potlucks as a church family. Church gatherings where the body of Christ gathered to share meals together have been replaced by a transactional encounter at the church’s Starbucks franchise. The culture of the spectator church replaces communal table gatherings with individually packaged goods for your individual worship extravaganza experience. What does it say about our spirituality when we’ve packed Jesus’s blood into a to-go cup?

It is so WHITE that it HURTS

The megachurch, according to Baptist News Global, has struggled significantly with race relations. Their research finds that 27 percent of Black practicing Christians felt pressure to give up their racial identity in order to fit in, and 28 percent found it difficult to build relationships and fit in. That is a large percentage of people unable to find welcome, especially in a church setting that was designed to be “seeker sensitive.” Typically, these megachurches are plants of a predominantly White denomination, so it isn’t a surprise that the White supremacy has leaked into the culture of the congregations. Smaller churches aren’t exempt from this, but for churches that claim to be a part of a new and innovative future, there should be a lot more work done on anti-racism efforts.

They are most often fascist in practice

Megachurch pastor Rick Warren is said to have translated his management theories of business into a model for church. This model of modern megachurches echoes so much of the ideology of fascism. In this model, pastors often have the authority and make the final say on all decisions. Congregants in these situations are typically expected to surrender any form of democracy or opinion to the leadership of the church (which is most often White men). This church model is very dependent upon transactional relationships between the parishioners and the leadership. The leaders make the decisions, parishioners support with tithes, and the leadership serves the congregants their weekly subscription of theology. Not only that, but 62% of those congregations have multiple “sites” or “campuses” to serve the congregants of different regions. The decision making for large regions of religious communities are made by one, powerful, wealthy leadership team. If you don’t follow the model, you don’t find welcome. There is no dissent. There is no room for questions. There isn’t room for other churches, either. That’s why they build campuses in communities that are already “churched.”

Theology is dense

Unfortunately, to create a bought-and-sold, made for TV version of Jesus’ calling on the Christian community, it had to be watered down immensely. For megachurches, the Gospel is often preached simply as either your ticket to heaven (through a transactional relationship) or through some sort of promise of prosperity through giving to the church. Also, in order to create a massive, corporate, individual-focused megachurch, the theologies of communal expression have to be shed. There is no room for the importance of breaking bread together in a church where no one knows the folks next to them. Praying and worshiping together is not a priority theologically when the experience is all about what each person individually got out of worship. There is no room for full participation of even the lowly in a church where a band of professionals entertain the congregation each week. There is no room for learning when the theology of excellence is delivered from the stage. In the megachurch, there is little to no room for complex or thoughtful theologies—at least the ones that don’t take advantage of people.

Okay, there are some GREAT things about megachurches as well

“hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

I don’t want to neglect to speak on the important parts of a megachurch that make it so wonderful for so many people that attend them on a weekly basis. For many, it is a great place of refuge to hear a sermon without being bothered by annoying church folks. For a lot of marginalized folks, it is safe to attend a megachurch because hiding out is sometimes all they need for a season. Megachurches bring in a lot of money and often use that money for good, including services to marginalized communities. Megachurches do a tremendous job introducing folks to church that aren’t comfortable with or used to the traditional feel of most smaller congregations. Megachurches often have great programs for small groups. That isn’t to say that most people do them, but they are intentional and designed to create community. There are many things to be thankful for in the culture of a megachurch. It obviously isn’t a place that I see as healthy or spiritually beneficial, but hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

The importance of small church communities

The most frequent response from a megachurch fan when I say that small churches are healthier is this: “If you church is small, then it isn’t growing or sharing the gospel to others.” That is far from the truth. That could be the case for some churches, but for many, the smaller congregations have tons of guests, just like your church. Consumer-focused folks don’t often stay, though, because it is hard to sneak in the back of a small church and receive your 20mg dose of Jesus. In a small church, there is complexity; there is social interaction; there is service to one another; there is communal participation. Small church is like learning a language—you can’t practice once for an hour and expect to be fluent. Small church is a place for engagement. Small church challenges you to live up to your true potential as a person of faith. Small church inspires you to dream big. Small church empowers participation of everyone. Small church is democracy—voices are heard and dissent is (often) welcome.

I know that for many folks, this article is either confirmation bias heaven or just a dumb article from a dumb liberal, but I really want folks to know, especially if they’ve never experienced it, what spiritual harm megachurch culture is causing all across the globe. And by the way, if you have a book report due, don’t watch the movie. I know it is fun and convenient, but it will only harm you in the long run.

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Sources:

My brain (lol)
Baptist News Global
Grunge
Hartford Institute for Religion Research