Last night I was invited to my best friend’s parents’ house. After a lovely lasagna dinner I sat with her parents and two of their family friends in the living room. The couple her parents had over happened to be co-workers with my friend’s dad (they all work together for the Service Employees union).
Talk eventually shifted from a local businessman who was fined for locking illegal immigrants in a van, and only releasing them to work for him – to discussing a Portland-area megachurch.
Apparently a leader in the union decided that they could learn something from the megachurches phenomenon, which are able to sustain and engage large numbers of people each week. So a couple of their co-workers were recently required to attend a service to “scout out” and report back what tactics this popular corporation-like entity utilized. This is a rough transcription of what the conversation went like:
Female family friend: “Yeah, so there has been explosive growth in certain Christian groups, causing these megachurches.”
My friend’s mom: “What’s a megachurch?”
Female family friend: “Well it’s basically a church that has over a 1,000 people – sometimes with as many as 10,000 people or more… they’re huge, and growing… it’s quite scary.”
My friend’s mom: “So are they a cult?”
Female family friend: “No – much worse than a cult. They talk in very militaristic terms – they run sort like a terrorist organization. They have small groups they even call “cells” with small group leaders that keep track of about 20 people – they call them roughly every other day to check-in and basically chart their progress. Once a person has proven that they have bought into the group’s philosophy they can become a small group leader and recruit more people. Megachurches constantly talk about ‘reclaiming this nation for Christ’.”
My friend’s mom: “Well I guess they want to get rid of us then.” (They’re Jewish)
Female family friend: “Yup – and then these fascist megachurches plan to take their message to the rest of the world.”
My friend’s mom: “Wow..”
My friend’s dad: “So what did they think the union could learn from this thing?”
Male family friend: “Well I don’t think we should adopt any of their practices… but the idea was that they’re a large group, yet are able to maintain a group identity that still makes individuals feel welcomed and happy.”
Female family friend: “That’s because they have trained greeters – like Wal-Mart. Plus, parents are able to drop their kids off and have free time while their kids get indoctrinated.”
Male family friend: “Yeah, and what’s weird is that the building doesn’t even look like a church anymore – it’s very deceptive – it looks like a large warehouse or stadium. They use huge projectors, and it feels like an entertainment program.”
Female family friend: “Even their name is strange – it doesn’t sound like a normal Christian group – it is called the Assembly of God.”
As I listened I saw it from an outsider’s perspective for the very first time – and it even scared me. Now only imagine if all of this were being said, not about a church, but about a mosque.
20 Responses to “Fascist Megachurches”
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Twitter: EstherCrawford
- @jeffreine that bridge gives me chills
- @jeffreine yep! and watched tv ... I'm pretty sure every night should end like that
- @soccerhaus it was pretty hilarious... then another couple came in and started making out too.. it never ended
May 2nd, 2011 at 11:11 am
Thats not just logic. Thats rlealy sensible.
March 1st, 2006 at 8:11 pm
it makes me wonder in what other ways christians come off negatively.
February 28th, 2006 at 9:16 pm
bling bling
February 28th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Amazing!
February 28th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Man that’s insane. The XA group here @ SHSU has been told that we are a cult, for about 10 years now. They just don’t know that the purpose of these “big churches” is not to start a cult-like organization in which we “trap people into Christianity,” but to show them the way, & people just get hooked on Jesus. It’s amazing. Anyway ….. Yeah. That’s scary.
February 28th, 2006 at 11:46 am
Not to hijack this entry, but I just now noticed the Stephen Hawking quote on your banner.
It is so profound, and so true.
I have made it one of my life goals to destroy ignorance, and part of that has always been opposing the pretence of knowledge.
I think I’ll steal it, translate it into Latin (so it sounds elevated) and put it on my blog.
February 28th, 2006 at 11:00 am
It’s funny because it’s true. It’s scary for the same reason.
February 28th, 2006 at 12:15 am
yes hmmmm………
February 27th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
hmmmm…………
February 27th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
WOW. That’s all I can think of to say.
February 27th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Hmm… sounds like a lot of judgmentalism happening in that conversation. If a megachurch takes its focus off of Jesus then there is a problem, but if Jesus is drawing people to a body of believers who can encourage and support each other while showing the same love of Christ to more then that super-sized church may not be going down the wrong path.
February 27th, 2006 at 8:47 pm
Wow. I don’t even know what to say. Fascinating.
February 27th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
fascinating perspective…I’m also glad that mosnarb wrote those extra comments as well, for the reasons he communicated.
It makes me think if I were to plant a church, what would I call things and why…and of course one needs to consider who is the church attempting to draw, what’s it’s purpose, if it’s to encourage those who already consider themselves followers of Christ, and not necessarily designed to draw those who have know church background then that’s probably not a big deal with what they call things and how they manage ministry to the congregation.
But if it’s to reach the unchurched, then I think another approach would be more effective.
February 27th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
ryc: thanks for responding. I try to get out on Sunday mornings and go to a Starbucks… park… mall to see what people are doing. You find out some interesting things. The church is not a building… it is people.
The reason I add content to blogs is someone reading this blog wouldn’t know that churches really do care about people and the many hurts and needs in the world. I try not to use the word “Christian” when I talk with someone for that very reason. I am immediately ‘typecast’ as to how the media has portrayed me… right-wing, activist, republican. (among other things:) I believe Jesus was very people oriented and constantly ministered to the hurting.
February 27th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
The last A/G church we attended chose “care groups” instead of “cell groups” for that very reason, but I guess the point in the conversation would have been made no matter what terminology was used.
February 27th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Thanks for sharing the conversation. It was enlightening and amusing simultaneously.
February 27th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
We have to remember that these churches only have one agenda… oh wait… I just found this on one megachurches website… they do care about other things. :)
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February 27th, 2006 at 4:55 pm
scary… I must say.
It’s funny how we, in “Christian culture”, tend to overlook the “outsider’s” perspective when indeed it is one of the most important.
February 27th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Ah, yes, but the difference is that fascist megachurches are much less likely to support suicide bombings and other forms of terror than fascist mosques. Instead, they use their voting power to choose leaders who will engage in legitimate, large-scale military occupations against their enemies, which is significantly more harmful and innocuous because of its legitimacy.
You see why I keep harping on this idea of mimetic rivalry?
February 27th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
*very carefully trying to construct joke that won’t get me yelled at by somebody…probably about Nick, not sure yet…*
Heaven forbid a church would hold many members over a long span of time though, much less be friendly to visitors!
Churches being open and friendly…what is the world coming to?