Recently, there was a mini firestorm online brought about by how a Christian conference was selecting its speakers. The conference organizers used a polling system in which respondents could vote "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down" on any given nomination. Voters could also suggest their own speaker if they thought someone else would be better to listen to. (For more on the hoopla, visit here.

While the use of this new technology generated considerable interest for the conference organizers, what's really interesting is that we often face the less blatant version of this in every day Christian life. At least one other commentator has made the point that preachers, especially, are ranked and categorized and are given an often-hidden, thumbs up or thumbs down.  It's less blatant than an online polling system, but the gossip and evaluation are effective at the task nonetheless. Often this  has little to do with the substance and much to do with the individual's entertainment value.

Our culture is a consumerist one, and are Christianity has become so too. We want to hear that which moves our spirit, stirs our soul, and we fail to realize that while truth can accomplish this, so can a lot of gimmicks and shenanigans. Movies, after all, often cause us to feel all sorts of emotions and very few of them can claim to be from a godly perspective.  At times, our Christianity has become so market-driven that it can be hard to distinguish from other enterprises driven by similar demands. If our Source and our calling our different, shouldn't our standards be different too?

I'm hopeful that the conference organizers simply wanted to do some market research and maybe didn't think through all the ramifications of their strategy. I'm less hopeful that Christians as a whole approach their church-going experience any differently. Regardless, God is all about giving people what they need, first and foremost, starting with a relationship with Him. I'm confident that we'd find our ministry a lot more effective if our objective was the same.