The Church as Personal Business

When the community becomes your project instead of God's project

The tabernacle that became a family enterprise

Eli watched his sons move casually among the sacred altars, their hands expert in handling the temple vessels, their eyes automatically calculating the best portion of every sacrifice. They weren't consciously profaning the holy place—they were simply treating it as family property.

For Hophni and Phinehas, the tabernacle was no longer God's house—it was their house.

They no longer saw pilgrims coming to meet the Eternal. They saw customers bringing offerings to manage. They no longer felt the sacred weight of intercession. They felt the economic weight of family sustenance.

They had transformed the sacred into business, worship into transaction, the house of prayer into a family enterprise.

And Eli, though seeing everything, chose to protect his interests instead of protecting God's holiness.

The same metamorphosis can happen today, and both leaders and congregations are often unwitting accomplices.

When the pastor becomes a spiritual entrepreneur

The drift begins subtly, like all the most dangerous corruptions. A pastor who has received an authentic calling, who genuinely loves God and His people, gradually finds himself measuring ministry success through metrics that reflect his ego more than God's glory.

You get angry when people transfer to other churches instead of rejoicing in their spiritual growth. You measure success primarily through numbers that confirm your influence: attendance, offerings, involvement in your programs. You take criticism of the church as personal attacks because you've identified yourself with the institution.

It irritates you when other leaders in the community receive recognition. It bothers you when members seek spiritual counsel elsewhere. You become territorial about "your" members as if they were customers instead of brothers and sisters.

The simplest test: how do you react when someone has a different idea from yours for the community's good? If your first reaction is to protect your authority instead of evaluating the proposal's merit, you're treating the church as private property.

Jesus didn't tell Peter "build your church" or "realize your vision." He said "feed MY sheep" (John 21:17, NIV). The difference in that possessive determines whether you're serving God's calling or using God to serve your calling.

When the congregation becomes spiritual consumers

But leaders aren't the only ones responsible for this drift. As a member, you might have unconsciously transformed your church membership from relationship with God to social membership.

You come for what you receive, not for what you offer. You evaluate the church as a consumer paying for a service, not as family contributing to a mission.

You get angry if the preaching doesn't inspire you, but when was the last time you prayed to be inspired by God independently of the preaching? You complain if programs don't meet your needs, but what do you do to meet the spiritual needs of others in the community?

You criticize the lack of spiritual growth in the church, but your personal devotional life is practically non-existent. You want the church to be a place of transformation, but you resist every form of personal confrontation that could actually transform you.

You participate in social events with enthusiasm, but systematically avoid anything that requires serious spiritual commitment. You want membership without responsibility, benefits without costs, community without conversion.

The honest test: if your church eliminated everything except worship, prayer, and Bible study, would you continue attending with the same enthusiasm?

If the answer is "no," you're looking for a social club, not a church.

The vicious cycle of spiritual consumerism

When leaders treat the church as business and members treat it as a service, a devastating vicious cycle is created.

Pastors, seeing that people respond better to social programs than prophetic preaching, intensify the recreational aspect of ministry. Members, getting used to being entertained instead of challenged, become increasingly demanding about the "quality" of services offered.

Leaders, pressured by performance expectations, transform worship services into shows and sermons into motivational speaking. Believers, treated as audience instead of disciples, develop spectator mentality instead of participant mentality.

The final result: a community that functions perfectly as a social organization but is spiritually dead. Like the temple in Jesus' time—full of activity but empty of God.

Everyone is satisfied with the performance, but no one is transformed by the presence.

Paul's paradox at Corinth

Paul faced exactly this problem at Corinth. The Corinthians loved their church—they were proud of their spiritual gifts, enthusiastic about their gatherings, active in community life. But Paul called them "worldly" and "mere infants in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1, NIV).

Why? Because they had transformed the church into a stage for their performances instead of an altar for God's worship. They came to show off, not to meet the Lord. They participated to receive recognition, not to give glory to God.

Paul didn't close the church. He didn't abolish spiritual gifts. But he radically reoriented the objective: "When you come together, let everything be done so that the church may be built up" (1 Corinthians 14:26, NIV).

Spiritual edification, not social entertainment.

Growth in Christ, not customer satisfaction. Transformation of lives, not performance of programs.

Symptoms of the social church

Here's how to recognize if your community is transforming into a social club:

Leadership symptoms:

• You plan events more to attract than to transform
• You measure success through attendance numbers instead of spiritual depth
• You avoid topics that might create "controversy" (repentance, holiness, sacrifice)
• You focus creativity on programs instead of worship moments

Member symptoms:

• You participate mainly in social events
• You systematically avoid prayer, fasting, deep Bible study
• You evaluate the church as a service that must meet your expectations
• You resist any form of spiritual confrontation or growth that requires effort

Community symptoms:

• Conversations in general are always social, never spiritual—when was the last time you talked with someone from church about Christian life issues rather than secular topics, gossip, or simple friendly chatter?
• Worship moments are experienced as "interludes" before announcements
• Community prayer is formal and brief
• Social events always have more participation than spiritual moments

The return to Jesus' model

Jesus had a radically different approach. He didn't organize events to attract crowds—He often discouraged them with difficult teachings. He didn't measure success through number—he sent away thousands who followed him for loaves and fish.

His objective was never mass entertainment, but heart transformation.

When crowds came for miracles, He spoke about the cross. When they sought an earthly king, He spoke about spiritual kingdom. When they wanted immediate benefits, He offered costly discipleship.

The result? Many left. But those who remained were transformed so deeply they changed the world.

He preferred a dozen authentic disciples to thousands of superficial fans. He chose depth over breadth, quality over quantity, transformation over entertainment.

The choice that determines everything

Today, leaders and members together must make the same choice that faced the early church: do you want a community that impresses or a community that transforms?

For leaders: are you willing to risk popularity to recover spirituality? To lose numbers to gain depth? To disappoint consumers to form disciples?

For members: are you willing to move from consuming spirituality to contributing to the community's spiritual life? To stop evaluating and start participating? To seek transformation instead of entertainment?

The uncomfortable truth is this: you can't have both. A church that tries to please everyone ends up transforming no one. A community that avoids spiritual challenge to maintain social comfort gradually loses both the challenge and God.

The courage of simplification

Maybe it's time for radical simplification. To return to the basics that Jesus gave the early church: "Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20, NIV).

Not: "Where there's a well-organized program, there I am." Not: "Where everyone has fun, there I am." But: "Where they are gathered in MY NAME"—to worship me, to grow in me, to be transformed by me.

Maybe you need the courage to cancel events that don't serve spiritual growth. To simplify the calendar to make room for God's presence. To disappoint social expectations to satisfy divine expectations.

Maybe you need to rediscover that a church of twenty people hungry for God is worth more than a church of two hundred people hungry for entertainment.

The promise of authentic presence

Here's the promise Jesus makes to every community willing to choose His presence over their popularity: "Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20, NIV).

He doesn't promise numbers. He doesn't promise social success. He doesn't promise everyone will be happy with your choices.

But He promises His presence. And a small community with God's presence transforms more lives than a large community without Him.

When God is truly present, people don't need entertainment - they're fascinated by Him. They don't need elaborate programs—they're satisfied by His glory.

They no longer measure the church by what they receive—they measure it by how much of God they experience.

Today's questions that challenge everyone

Leaders: If you had to choose between a large church that's spiritually lukewarm and a small church that's spiritually vital, which would you honestly choose?

Members: If your church eliminated all social programs and focused only on worship, prayer, and spiritual growth, would you continue attending with enthusiasm?

Everyone together: When was the last time you experienced God's tangible presence in your community? And what are you willing to sacrifice to have it again?

Today's truth: A church can be full of people but empty of God. It can be rich in programs but poor in presence. It can be socially perfect but spiritually dead.

But it can also choose to return to the origins—to prefer God's presence to human applause, life transformation to program success.

The choice is yours. Leaders and members together. God doesn't force His presence on communities that prefer entertainment to worship.

But He's always ready to return when an entire community—from pulpit to pews—chooses to truly gather in His name.

To worship Him. To be transformed by Him. To prefer His presence to anything else.