Pastor lays out the impact a consumer mindset is having on faith

Megachurch pastor Craig Groeschel, the founder of the YouVersion Bible app and Life.Church, shared his concerns about the state of faith in America during a recent interview.

Groeschel, author of the new book, “Divine Direction: 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life,” told "The Church Boys" podcast that “the consumer mindset of our generation — of all people today — is really, really scary when it comes to the church.”

Groeschel said some Christians say that they can’t find a church that meets their needs — but that isn’t really the point of going to church.

“As Jesus followers, we are not spiritual consumers, we are spiritual contributors,” he said, adding, “The church does not exist for us. We are the church, and we exist for the world.”

Groeschel’s Life.Church is one of the the largest online churches in the world. He acknowledged that he is concerned about the impact that technology may have on some peoples’ church experience.

“Now many people are equating church with receiving content, meaning ‘I don’t necessarily have to go to a building … and I think we’re missing so much power in the face-to-face interaction,” Groeschel said. “And so I’m asking myself the question, ‘What does continue to draw people together?'”

“People are coming to church far less frequently,” he added. “If I’ve only got a person under my influence for an hour, it’s going to be very difficult to help them be spiritually successful in this world today. That’s a real big concern for me.”

Groeschel said he decided to write his new book after many of his congregants asked him for guidance about life decisions, asking questions like, “How do I know what I’m supposed to do?

“There’s a lot of fear, a lot of difficulty in making decisions and hesitation,” he said. “So, what I wanted to do was really demystify that.”

“[The book is] trying to guide the reader into seven decisions that, if we can all make … these faithfully over time, we really get to a great place in life,” he said, adding that faith is a journey toward God’s plan and “we are the result of the decisions we have made in the past.”

Listen to Groeschel’s interview on “The Church Boys” podcast around the 32:30 mark below:

Editor’s note: The author of this article was also interviewed on the podcast.

(H/T: Faithwire)