3M Brand Religion

They make everything from Scotch Tape to Post-it notes. Products with the 3M label are everywhere—in homes, schools, offices, churches, and hospitals. With assets in the billions, this multinational company is a part of the lives of millions of people.

The 3M brand of church is one of the fastest-growing trends in religion. This movement centers on:

Music. Preachers and their churches know that if they want numbers, they must have music, and not just any music, but the best instruments and latest sound system with the most up-to-date high definition screens to present the best singers and musicians they can afford. This is a must for churches that value numerical growth first. Worship is like a concert. The focus is on the performers, not the audience or even God.

Miracles. Belief in modern-day miracles is popular. Some of the largest churches in the world are Charismatic and Pentecostal. Preachers in these churches promise miracles, especially miracles of healing, to despondent people looking for hope. Some enlarge the concept of a miracle found in the Bible (like Jesus raising the dead or casting out demons) to everyday wonders like getting a job promotion or meeting the right person unexpectedly. “God will send you a miracle” is a successful (and lucrative) sales pitch for preachers.

Millennialism. To draw crowds and keep them on the edge of their seats, churches talk constantly about the end. This generation has more access to news all over the world than any other. That distracts them and leaves them vulnerable to preachers who claim to have a crystal ball. Whenever there is news about a catastrophe, a new disease, or a war, especially if that war involves Israel or Russia, it is interpreted as a sign of the end. But in premillennial belief, the fear of the end is not paramount. It is the excitement of a new beginning: the expectation of the national restoration of Israel with Jesus as king for a thousand-year period of unparalleled peace and prosperity.

These three marks have one thing in common. They appeal to feelings at the expense of Bible teaching. They are like drugs that make people feel good and keep them addicted. But churches use them because they work.

God tells all Christians to sing in worship, not play music (I Cor. 14:15; Col. 3:16). The melody we make is to be in our hearts (Eph. 5:19). We have no more authority to use instruments of music in worship than we have to pray to Mary or eat biscuits and sausage for the Lord’s Supper.

The Bible teaches that miracles ended in the first century (I Cor. 13:8-13). Miracles in the New Testament were so obvious that even unbelievers knew they were miracles (Acts 4:16). If preachers today really work miracles, why do they never raise the dead?

The earth will be burned up when Jesus returns (II Pet. 3:10). At that time Jesus will deliver up the kingdom, the church, to the Father, not set up the kingdom on earth (I Cor. 15:23-24).

If you examine religion today, you will find this label, but you may have to read the small print.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • February 9, 2025