{"id":9912,"date":"2012-02-09T18:19:21","date_gmt":"2012-02-09T23:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=9912"},"modified":"2013-05-31T18:32:56","modified_gmt":"2013-06-01T02:32:56","slug":"corporate-church-goes-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"The Corporate Church Goes Bust"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-9910\" title=\"CEO Jesus\" src=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus.jpg\" alt=\"Corporate Church Model\" width=\"309\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus.jpg 309w, https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus-200x310.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px\" \/>At the center of God\u2019s Kingdom are relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Relationships are the focus of His plan for accomplishing His purposes on earth. One of the greatest downfalls of the modern church era is the movement away from genuine relationships, and into the corporate model of the church where we think the most important thing is to increase our market share, and expand our influence through size, numbers, and a year-over-year increase in attendance and giving.<\/p>\n<p>I would not be too surprised to see the day when a church has an IPO and begins selling stock to investors.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0802807917\/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=jdmyers-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0802807917\" rel=\"nofollow\">Robert Farrar Capon<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=tiheco-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0802807917\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" \/> says it best when he concludes his analysis of the corporate church model by saying this: \u201cThe corporate model is, hands down, the worst thing that ever happened to the church.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yet we have adopted the corporate model because we think big churches can do everything better. We feel that big problems require big answers and big bank accounts to offer big solutions. And to get the big bank accounts, we need big donors, so we can pool lots of money to make the biggest difference in a big world of big needs.<\/p>\n<h2>Bigger is not always better<\/h2>\n<p>But as more and more churches are beginning to understand, this \u201cbig is better\u201d approach does not work. At least, not for God\u2019s way of doing things.<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->While it maybe be true that large pools of institutional money are better at buying political favors, influencing scientific research, and swaying foreign governments, it has always been known and is frequently demonstrated that individuals always do better at loving and caring for other individuals, tend to be wiser stewards of money, and view their giving and service toward others as a means of actually helping them, rather than a means to gain political power or popular prestige.<\/p>\n<p>There is another way. A better way. A way modeled by Jesus, the apostles, the early church, and many other churches throughout history. We will look briefly at this model of helping others in the next few posts.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The corporate model is, hands down, the worst thing that ever happened to the church. So says Robert Farrar Capon. And I agree. Bigger is not always better. There is another way. A better way. A way modeled by Jesus, the apostles, the early church, and many other churches throughout history. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[15,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-9912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-close-your-church-for-good","8":"tag-discipleship","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Corporate Church Goes Bust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The corporate model is, hands down, the worst thing that ever happened to the church. 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Bigger is not always better.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-09T23:19:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-01T02:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"The Corporate Church Goes Bust\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-09T23:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-01T02:32:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/\"},\"wordCount\":347,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Close Your Church for Good\",\"Discipleship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/\",\"name\":\"The Corporate Church Goes Bust\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/corporate-church-goes-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/CEOJesus.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-09T23:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-01T02:32:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"The corporate model is, hands down, the worst thing that ever happened to the church. 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