the business of religion

Have you ever experienced this?:

You see something you might be interested in online. It says, “Click here if interested!” You click. It takes you to another page with no substantially new information. But there’s another button that says, “Click here for more information!” This time it asks you for your address and email address please, so as better to serve you. Well, you’re so interested in the product that you reluctantly enter the information and click the button to get to the product. The next page gives a slight sniff of what the product might be, but you’re not sure. This time it says that if you want the product, there’s a fee and it asks you for your credit card information. And on it goes. What started as a revolutionary new secret remains just that: a secret.

I was at a conference, the theme of which was business, and the same thing happened. I got the feeling that the whole event, including all the talks, were advertisements marketing the “real” product, which was, of course, another conference that cost four times as much. There was so much hype and excitement that the lure was incredibly strong. It took a great deal of resilience to resist the temptation to sign up. I kept assuring myself that the next event would be just the same thing all over again… a marketing scheme to get me to another event.

Many people get the same feeling at the church they go to. I remember very vividly being told by a pastor who was mentoring me that the key to his church’s success was to create the vibe, the hype. Of course, it was all scripturally based and Holy Spirit inspired. The way it was said was that the people’s hope needed to be tantalized but never really actualized. If it was ever actualized they would move on to another church for a more thrilling hope. It was this hype, this sense of excited expectation, that kept people coming.

This is the secret of much business and marketing. The trick is to get people to invest in nothing but the Name, behind which is Nothing.

This is the business of much religion.

I’m offering my services for pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, dream work, etc… Email me and we can arrange it: haywardart at gmail dot com (read more…)