Many churches need shopping mall's effect!
A trolley full of groceries, students in their colorful uniforms and ids, looking little further at the far corner, few young people with a hairdo we can see only in some comic strips! Young lovers walking holding hands, good numbers of people are just doing “window shopping” (including me), salesperson never get tire of “Hello sirs/hello madams”, a full packed at Jollybee but empty coffee shop! and there is a sign near the cinema theater "Worship service every Sunday at 10 am at movie theater 4! Etcetera etcetera.
There are few places in Asia known for the shopping malls, namely Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong. But the whole Philippines can be considered as a shopping mall! Everywhere in the Philippine is Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. It is like “All in One” package. The intriguing facts about the shopping mall is that people feels good being at mall, have you heard any fighting in the mall? Hardly! It inspire people to visit again and again, it motivate people to earn more money, everybody love to go to the mall! Now, if we have to relate such reality with the church life, there is something good about mall. I wonder what will be the answer if we ask a common people who has money this question, “where do you want to go - Mall or Church on Sunday?” Here, I am not trying to demonize the mall but I am trying to point the reality of human inclination to the practical reality. The church at the shopping mall is a very interesting proposition. There should be “mall effect” for today church. Shopping mall is inspiring in so many ways. For instance, when we saw something nice, we make all efforts to buy that thing. Even if we can’t buy, still it give some hope that one day, sooner or later, we will get it. Sometime, it is like the parable in the Bible that a person sold everything to buy the hidden treasure!
It will be interesting for a mission worker to incorporate the mall strategy and theology. We get maximum people in the mall than any other place.
There are few places in Asia known for the shopping malls, namely Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong. But the whole Philippines can be considered as a shopping mall! Everywhere in the Philippine is Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong. It is like “All in One” package. The intriguing facts about the shopping mall is that people feels good being at mall, have you heard any fighting in the mall? Hardly! It inspire people to visit again and again, it motivate people to earn more money, everybody love to go to the mall! Now, if we have to relate such reality with the church life, there is something good about mall. I wonder what will be the answer if we ask a common people who has money this question, “where do you want to go - Mall or Church on Sunday?” Here, I am not trying to demonize the mall but I am trying to point the reality of human inclination to the practical reality. The church at the shopping mall is a very interesting proposition. There should be “mall effect” for today church. Shopping mall is inspiring in so many ways. For instance, when we saw something nice, we make all efforts to buy that thing. Even if we can’t buy, still it give some hope that one day, sooner or later, we will get it. Sometime, it is like the parable in the Bible that a person sold everything to buy the hidden treasure!
It will be interesting for a mission worker to incorporate the mall strategy and theology. We get maximum people in the mall than any other place.
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