Jump out of the Cash Cab

If you are a fan of Discovery Channel, you are probably a fan of Cash Cab – the game show that takes place in a New York City cab. If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it at least once. The premise is basically this:

Unsuspecting folks jump into a NYC cab and tell the cabbie where they are headed. After he pulls away from the curb, interior lights begin flashing and the cabbie (Ben Bailey – who is GREAT) informs his passengers that they are, in fact, in the Cash Cab. They are offered a series of questions worth varying amounts of money until they reach their destination, when they are given a final chance to go double or nothing. HOWEVER, if during the ride they accumulate three strikes, they are immediately asked to leave the cab no matter how far from their destination they may be.

Real people are always the best, aren’t they? And real people who have a chance to win real money are even better! We are really willing to do anything, as long as there is the promise of profit for our efforts.

I was talking with a great guy at my sons’ basketball game. I almost never bring up the church in casual basketball conversations, but people often bring it up with me. He started to express his distress with the church and tell me the reasons why he no longer attends. His was a story I had heard before, and it had to do with cash. His premise was basically this:

Unsuspecting man goes into a church hoping that someone will help him get where he is headed. After the first hymn is sung, he senses that something altogether different is going on and that the congregants are there, in fact, to empty their wallets. They are offered a series of reasons why they are to part with their cash, with the most significant being that the end of their journey may come unexpectedly and they may not be given the chance to go double or nothing. Giving also prevents the accumulation of strikes, and refusal results in your immediate exit from the pew.

Lots of people struggle with the amount of money it takes to keep the church going and feel that some of the teachings about tithing and stewardship smell of manipulation instead of truth. I suspect that is often true and I do believe that, in some instances, the church has gotten in over its head financially because it has tried to be a full-service business. Desperation leads to exploitation of biblical principles.

But there is a deeper issue, I think. Why do we feel like the church should be like Cash Cab? We are so entrenched in consumerism that we have grown to believe that when we give we should get and so we think that our money should result in programs and opportunities that serve our needs – or worse yet – our wants. We are willing to do anything, as long as there is the promise of profit for our efforts.

I suspect we need to step back and recognize the ugly cycle. Congregants are consumers that the church tries to pacify and/or attract by spending money to build bigger and better churches. Churches entertain and overload, which all costs money, to appeal to people who want what they want but don’t want to pay for it. Then one church in town goes double or nothing – builds an indoor play land or something – and we all leave empty.

Stop the cab. Somebody needs to have the courage to get out, because we are so far from our real destination.