ecclesiastical pornography...

"...ecclesiastical pornography at its best. Lusting pastors look longingly at the new sirens of the age. And who can resist wanting to satistfy the desire for such success, relevance, financial, social, and political clout?"

Chris Erdman comments on the glitz gospel as presented in a US Business mag. "Earthly Empires: How evangelical churches are borrowing from the business playbook"

Guder quotes David Lowes Watson commenting on the effect of that

"narcissism ... and individualism ... masquerading as personal salvation and religious experience .... as a privatized soteriology and spiritualized discipleship .... leaving the powers and principalities of the present world unchallenged."

Guder continues to point out the dangers of self-absorbtion...

"The reign of Christ is jeopardized when any organizational structure becomes an end in itself This happens whenever the institution places all its energy in its own maintenance. When the visible church is primarily concerned with its image, its growth, its success, and its security, then it is ripe for conversion to the reign of Christ, who lays bare and sets aside all these idols. Just as flirtation with false gods remained a continual problem for Israel, the Christian community must contend constantly with temptations that would set up idols to replace Christ the King."

Guder, D.L (ed) (1998) Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America

Sometimes it is pretty easy to point the finger at the Mega-Church scene and come to self-righteous conclusions. It is harder to look at our own church set up and to identify those traits that make us equally as guilty.