Congregations Gone Wild - Bending the Church to the Cravings of Man

The New York Times recently reported on a phenomena - Congregations Gone Wild - in church life that is causing turmoil in churches and hardship among ministers. The author, Jeffrey MacDonald says that the heart of the matter is, "congregational pressure to forsake one's highest calling." It stems from churches which have become so user and consumer friendly that they bow to pressure to provide what the consumers want - entertainment. It is marked by "theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches and in mission trips that involve more sightseeing than listening to the people."

The result is pastors often have to choose between the calling of God and the preferences of people who have corrupt affections. It is problematic because you have churches that are not governed by the affections of God, but by the affections of men who cry out for specific cravings, "give us the comforting, amusing fare we want or we’ll get our spiritual leadership from someone else."