“What Is Not Assumed Is Not Redeemed”: Worship Lifestyle Branding at Bethel Church

Abstract

It’s no secret: some outside its sphere find evangelicalism’s megachurch, contemporary worship problematic. Accounts vary, but at their center many criticisms dismiss it as a public expression of cop-out Christianity, the kind neglecting Scripture’s call to not be “conformed to the patterns of this world” (Rom. 12:2, CEB). In this view, contemporary worship and its corresponding faith-world embodies, at best, a superficial, feeling-based spirituality swayed by the latest, commercially-driven trends and, at worst, the corrupt excesses of our culture’s consumerism, individualism, and even narcissism—those aspects that Christians, it is assumed, should rally against. As this narrative is told, the cultural ethos of consumption would be unquestionably incongruent with the gospel’s message. There is no shortage of energy spent portraying evangelicals as those who have commodified their worship, guided by the desires of individual consumers rather than the Christian tradition, the common good, and much less Godself. Even so, those evangelical ecclesial contexts have emerged alongside the rise of consumerism as a dominant cultural ethos that have become known for their vibrancy in the twenty-first century. The evangelical megachurch, chiefly recognized by its contemporary worship, has emerged as a novel, yet enduring phenomenon thoroughly debunking notions of contemporary culture’s assumed disenchanted, secularized condition. As described in this essay, evangelical faith is tailored specifically to the same consumption culture that has been lambasted as antithetical to faithful Christianity, and yet is shown as generating a comprehensive way of being-in-the-world in which adherents understand their faith-world to be congruent with their “real life” world. By attending to consumer culture’s practices of marketing and branding, particularly through worship practices of the megachurch, evangelical identity is formed for both the individual devotee and the particular community. For adherents, this gives way to a lifestyle that makes sense of the cultural resources and experiences available to them, resulting in a faith that is accepted as relevant and vibrant. The worship-rooted lifestyle corresponds to a supernatural reality that is just as real and true as the natural one. To focus on how the evangelical megachurch’s adoption of consumer culture’s branding and marketing practices enables a vital faith in the twenty-first century, I will attend to the case of internationally known and market-oriented Bethel Church of Redding, California. At Bethel, worshipers engage liturgical practice as a lifestyle brand, one that shapes all aspects of life both inside and outside the Church, offering [re]enchantment to an allegedly disenchanted world. Understood in this light, liturgical formation at Bethel Church nourishes the whole life of the worshiper, who is revealed to be much more than a shopper-consumer. Furthermore, I explain