Slavery to Subscriptions

I sense that more and more people are enslaved to "subscription" programs. The subscription itself has a long history. I remember those days when cell phones were only sold with a three-year contract, and you cannot change your device (even if it's broken) because you are doomed with this provider for three years. I remember signing off a document for a one-year contract at a fitness centre as a member, and I was not able to get out of it within one year unless I had a legitimate doctor's note. I still suffer through Adobe's Creative Studio suite while I cannot even run many of their programs on my laptop.

Here is what I am trying to say. We are going to be much more diversely and deeply engaged with this subscription plans. People subscribe to Amazon Prime membership, diaper subscription, coffee subscription, Netflix, Apple Music, video making, website building platforms. You name it! Many companies use different software to run their business platforms, students at a school run a teamwork platform online, and churches adopted all these programs right into our daily uses. I am not so much concerned about using the excellent services in the church. However, I want to understand the mindset of modern people--how we became to adapt to the system.

Someone in his book mentioned that "minimalism" will not last forever because human beings are greedy in their essence. People will strive to earn something more and something bigger and fill in the empty spaces that you have. The philosophy of "space" had brought us to desire larger houses, which means a bigger refrigerator (or refrigerators), which finally leads to a bulk purchase of goods at Costco! I would question about what "owning" means to young people then.

Truthfully speaking, "subscriptions" are nowhere close to any ownership. You would not own a single movie by watching Netflix. Once you cancel the membership, you have no more benefits. It goes same with any subscriptions. You are pretty much "renting" everything. I am still not completely convicted of "owning" the house, yet as much as I desire to own, I cannot afford to own a place easily. The best choice then is renting the primary residence. On the other hand, if you think about this carefully, you are completely free from paying the strata fees, maintenance of the roof or furnace, the gardens, the city's tax, etc. Why would people still prefer to own? Well, the real estate investment is entirely another realm. Going back to my topic, I would question to the young people, if purchasing a house was not an investment (Canada is unusual, some countries are not worth investing in real estates), would you still try to own a house?

My guess is, "no." Why bother? It's burdensome. It's risky. You wouldn't know until you test drive the vehicle. This is why people test drive their boyfriend/girlfriend before marriage. The point I am trying to make here is this. Young people may consider "church" as one of their subscription plans. Not only the offering that we do is much more convenient if it was set-up as an automatic payment from the credit card, but the level of engagement into knowing the concerns of church businesses and health is substantially different than the baby boomers. The baby boomers have the heart of ownership towards the church (also church building) and the Body of Christ. I am not trying to express and complain the young people's diminished love towards the church, but I am trying to stand on the same side to confess that "way to love" the church and idea of "ownership" had completely changed over time. We are completely soaked into "subscription society," where we no longer have to worry about what's happening in the backstage, yet in our own thoughts, the subscription is same as owning. Leasing a vehicle is a hassle-free option for many people, and they consider leasing for their entire life--because they feel that leasing is just like owning. Now, is this a problem?

There is a significant benefit of owning a church building, but most young people cannot easily appreciate the existence of the building. The building was likely to be there before they were born. They were born out of the existing structure, and they grew up with it. For these generations of young people as they grow up and their responsibilities increase (in the church), it becomes tedious to maintain a burden about the church, and of course, the church building. Meanwhile, you have your businesses and house(s) to take care. Many tend to leave and subscribe to another church that can run by itself. However, we quickly learn that nothing moves by itself. This is a little bit different from consumerism mindset of the modern church goers. Consumerism is when you are continuously consuming goods, which is in concern of selfishness and self-centredness that seeks only the benefits from the church and faith. The whole context that I am trying to explain is more about "half membership" to the church body. It is an issue of commitment and also submission to the Lord.

Everyone wants to subscribe and share the partial cost, but not the full cost to own it. But, the Bible describes to own the Kingdom of Heaven. How can we live in this society and still raise up the generation who would be fully committed to the Lord and give generously to the world? How can we teach the Kingdom's value and its worth to those who are soaked into the society, full of partial dedications? Shall we continue to make subscription plans to our church members by providing tracks for young parents, tracks for seniors, tracks for the new believers, and tracks for children? We need to re-think about this concept and apply it to the generation immediately to seek for some clear answers as soon as possible. The fourth industrial revolution is already here and approaching into our lifestyle quicker than ever. We are going to find soon the hyper-connected society, artificial intelligence, and automated and smart appliances talking with us in our daily living.

My approach is, "make them subscribe to Jesus Christ." I may influence some culture by providing awarenesses of problematic issues with the generation and church. However, the world will not change back to 1980s. How can we diagnose the crevices in the church and quickly fill it in with super-glue of Jesus Christ? I am completely not concerned with the changes of society or mindsets of people in the modern days. However, as a pastor and father, it is much important for me to jump ahead of time to prepare the coming wave. "I want my kids to subscribe to Jesus Christ, not to a church." Subscription is their way of "owning" the church. This is their way of committing their lives to God's mission completely. Then, make them subscribe to the way, the truth, and the life--Jesus Christ. They may fail to maintain a good church building, church system, and traditions because they are used to subscription plans that would not require you to have ownership of anything, which looks very careless from Generation X's perspective. Nevertheless, can we stop injecting the peripherals but help them subscribe to the primary component, Jesus Christ?!