3 Ways Mega Churches and Sin City are Similar

1. Glitz, Glamour, and Celebrities

That is Bishop TD Jakes there in the middle. This is his church anniversary celebration.

One thing that Las Vegas is known for, it is glitz, glamour, and celebrities. And mega churches are known for putting on a good show, which is full of glitz, glamour, and celebrities. Some churches even give away jackpot prizes like cars and free vacations for people who attend on certain occasions. Kind of sounds like a casino…

2. Compartmentalism

Also, city slogan of Las Vegas tourism, “What happens here, stays here” can also be true of the church. We often compartmentalize our church activity with the rest of our life. Many Christians feel that what happens on Sunday morning stays in the church building when they go home afterwards, and begin their work week on Monday.

This is especially true of mega churches, where the day-in-day-out and weekly interaction with other church members can easily be avoided and minimized.

3. Anonymity

Somewhat related to #2, Las Vegas allows people to act and behave in ways they never would if they were among their regular friends and neighbors back home. You can take on alternative personalities and behaviors at Las Vegas, and act out in ways that you could never do anywhere else. This same thing can happen in a church, and especially mega churches.

Mega churches are perfect places to put on a good show of being a follower of Jesus. You can shout, you can cry, you can dance, you can carry your Bible, and do all sorts of “Christian” things that have no connection with who you really are at home, at work, or among your friends. You can act our your spiritual life in a perfectly anonymous way. You can remain nameless in a church if you want to, fulfilling your “religious obligation” by walking through a door and sitting in a pew for an hour, without having to commit to other people or be accountable for your actions elsewhere.

These Things Happen in Small Churches Too

I am not saying the three things above do not happen in small churches, or even in house churches. They do. But it is much more difficult to put on a good show, to compartmentalize your life, and to remain anonymous.

Have you had experience in a mega church? I have, and to be honest, most of my experiences were actually quite positive. But tell us about your experiences in the comments below, and whether or not you think there is a connection between what Las Vegas is known for and what mega churches (often) do best.

http://missionallendale.wordpress.com/ Joey Espinosa

For 16+ years, I’ve been a part of what is now a megachurch (when I first started going, it was about 35 people on a Sunday; now it is about 5000 on a weekend).

We have plenty of issues, but not so much as you describe above. I think the difference is the emphasis and efforts that our elders and staff put on making it feel small. Perhaps that we have 4 campuses (soon to be 5) — and multiple services at 2 of them — helps with this, along with the emphasis on Community Groups.
- http://www.tillhecomes.org/ Jeremy Myers
  
  Joey,
  
  That is fantastic. I think one thing that mega churches can do to help build community and relationships is emphasize “home groups” — even to the extent that if a person has to “choose” between a home group and the Sunday service, the pastor encourages them to skip the service.
  
  Do you think your connection to others in the church has something to do with how long you have been there, especially since you were there when it was only 35 people?
  - http://missionallendale.wordpress.com/ Joey Espinosa
    
    Oh, I definitely feel connected due to my longevity there. But it’s also changed. I used to get discipled by the founding / teaching pastor, and now only see him twice a year or so (besides me just seeing him on the stage teaching).
    
    I know we don’t struggle with your first point at all. Ugh. That makes me sick. As for the other 2 points, I think those struggles are fairly common, but as I said, our leaders work hard against them.
    
    And while they do emphasize the home groups, the leaders do not emphasize one over the other, only that both are very crucial, but for different reasons.
Dani

I attended sermons at my local mega-church 7 years ago and left after 9 months because it was just too big. After being kicked out of our last church in May2012 we are back at the mega-church (it’s only 3 miles from our house – which is extremely close compared to the 10 mile drive to the church that kicked us out). Instead of attending the sermon on sunday, we have opted to only attend the Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) long form of the two words – sunday school. There is a strange benefit to this – the fellowship with about 40 people every sunday and the avoidance of the other 4-6 thousand people. The facilities are nice. The parking is similar to a busy mall- but manageable. It’s interesting to see the things that a huge church can do – even with missionaries in places too dangerous that they do not use their last names when speaking about them. But it is good to hear how the Lord’s church grows in – China and Asia. So, I guess, the bottom line is, we’ve given up the sermonizing pastor, but retain the current ‘church’ structure and maintain fellowship – while still attending a mega-church. All 3 of your points do happen at this church… not big named celebs- but people who write books- and sell their wares in the lobby, and because of the anonymity – it’s easy to compartmentalize – it’s probably always a choice that one makes.
- http://www.tillhecomes.org/ Jeremy Myers
  
  Dani,
  
  That is great, and I applaud your willingness to be creative and seek Christian fellowship outside the “norm.” There is great flexibility and freedom within the family of God!