At Christianity Today, Mark Galli reviews a new book by Shayne Lee and Phillip Luke Simitiere, entitled Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace, which reappraises the “strict-church thesis,” which says that “that strict religions thrive while lenient religions decline”:
We evangelicals have long chalked up our success to this thesis. People are leaving liberal, mainline churches, we say, because liberals have compromised the gospel, and people are flocking to evangelical churches precisely because we have remained true and firm in the faith.
But a new book—Holy Mavericks: Evangelical Innovators and the Spiritual Marketplace, by Shayne Lee and Phillip Luke Sinitiere (NYU)—argues that the strict-church thesis does not hold water. The authors look at five mega-ministries in broader evangelicalism, movements led by Joel Osteen, T. D. Jakes, Brian McClaren, Paula White, and Rick Warren. They examine these ministries through a marketplace approach to American religion, which analyzes spiritual supply and demand, marketing techniques, religious needs, and so forth.
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The strict-church thesis needs revising. As the authors summarize: “We uncover little that is strict or demanding in our subjects’ messages or ministries, and yet four of their churches are among the largest in the country.” Instead, they argue that their success is due to effective marketing, meeting psychological needs, and appropriately addressing “the cultural tastes of potential clients.”
Read the rest of the piece here.
