How did things get this way?

The Church has certainly become a consumer oriented entity. Churches are surveying their areas and designing themselves to meet the expectation of those surveys. The membership's expectation drives the ministries of the churches. People stop attending one church and attend another based on "their needs" being met. Pastors rush from one current idea to another trying to keep up with the changing whims of people.

I know that churches are dying in significant numbers. Many of those still operating are on life support. Naturally, pastors are looking for something that will draw people. They see the mega-churches whose weekly attendance is in the thousands. They believe that this could be their churches if they would simply follow the lead of the mega-churches. They fail to see that their community doesn't match that of the mega-churches and their personality does not match that of the mega-churches' pastors. They think it is all about methods. It isn't, but that doesn't keep them from trying.

How did things get this way? Preaching the Bible and bringing people to know Christ for salvation are secondary to getting people to attend. It appears we are saying, "Come to our church. We don't care what you believe. In fact, we don't care if you ever believe?"
I wonder if most of the people really believe the gospel. Do they believe that Jesus truly sacrificed His life so that all who believed would be forgiven of their sins?
I, for one, am frustrated with the Christianity we have today. I am tired of trying to follow every idea presented by mega-churches so that my church will grow. I want to share the plain truth of the Bible without having to be concerned whether the consumers who hear it will come back. Don't get me wrong. I love having people attend worship. I love seeing them "get it".