marketing jesus
Caution: Very Cynical
So I was sitting on my couch reading Businessweek … What?!?! Yeah, yeah, I know you think you are on the wrong blog. You’re not, it’s me Michael, reading Businessweek … keep reading and you will know why. There was an article entitled Earthly Empires. It was about evangelical churches who have “unabashedly used business and marketing techniques” to gain “market share.” About half-way through the article hearing from some of the most famous pastors with the largest churches, I began experiencing anaphylactic shock, with acute itching, and hives. Because I read this:
Many evangelicals say they're just trying to satisfy demands not met by traditional churches. Craig Groeschel, who launched Life Church in Edmond, Okla., in 1996, started out doing market research with non-churchgoers in the area -- and got an earful. "They said churches were full of hypocrites and were boring," he recalls. So he designed Life Church to counter those preconceptions, with lively, multimedia-filled services in a setting that's something between a rock concert and a coffee shop.
So compare his words with Jesus’ in the gospels:
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
At another place it says:
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."
"Which ones?" he inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
Maybe the reason Jesus was killed was because he did present these words with lively, multimedia-filled services in a setting that's something between a rock concert and a coffee shop. Wait … isn’t this cheating though? I mean if we’re honest we are writing a check that we can’t cash. I feel like we make this Christian thing sound like a sleek silver sports car … then when we unveil what Jesus really was about (many however never get that far), and it seems like a 1983 Pontiac Parisenne Station Wagon with simulated wood grain paneling. We do the show we do the business … but this is not “showbusiness” it is supposed to be the Kingdom of Heaven. We are supposed to see Jesus at work, and understand the Kingdom’s amazing availability here and now on this earth. I am sorry but I do not know that we need to keep on dressing this up in accordance with what the market is telling us … and here is why.
The “market” for the Kingdom of God is all humanity.
Shocking I know. I probably should start a consultation company giving a strategy as to how we can market Jesus to the world. I do not think it would be popular though, and it really wouldn’t be attractive to a lot of people. I mean after all, it would involve things like washing one another’s feet, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, humbling ourselves, bringing renewal to the world, demanding justice for the poor, defending the old, being last, giving up our rights, not seeking vengeance, being obedient to death, being agents of peace, living simply, calling men and women to stop living for themselves, building homes for the homeless (not bigger buildings to accommodate “market-driven” strategies), clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, giving our money to the poor and nursing the sick back to health. Maybe this would work if I presented it with a really catchy video, neat music, and flashing lights of course.
But who would honestly attempt something like this? I mean isn’t this insane? Who would buy into something like this? If we actually talked about this in our gatherings on Sunday mornings we would not even have mega-churches, so we definitely should not. Talking about that stuff without all the trimmings that people want (but think they need) just doesn’t make sense. We need to keep making them comfortable on Sundays so that they won’t ever get into the “taking care of the poor” stuff. The best part is the results of the evangelical market driven strategies are working!
True! They get 1,000’s of unchurched people in every week. They get fired up about the lights, feel-good sermons, Starbucks, and pyrotechnics (okay, mild exaggeration) that the vast majority get just what they need in one hour, and they are good for the rest of the week. When they try to unveil something that means taking the focus off themselves … it tanks! Thank God for market strategies … God only knows where this whole Jesus thing would be without them!