Are we too scared?
For the past 5 years I have been wrestling with church marketing and trusting in the Spirit. Biblicly I know that we are called to spread the gospel and the Spirit uses that to bring faith. And I understand that faith comes from hearing the Word of God. Here is the problem I have, in marketing do we trust that the Spirit will do as we are told?
Church marketing has become very man centered. We play off of the needs of what the community wants. Great kids programs, loud rock music, in service coffee and short messages are the church buzz words. Now those are not bad things, but where is God in that? Are we scared that any mention of God or biblical references will offend people? If God and His word are the only things that can truly bring people into His family, why do we not use that?
So how do we do this? How can we live inline with biblical evangelism and still market? How do we get past the fear of offending people, and start trusting in what God has told us? What are your thoughts?
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We are way too scared. We ARE going to offend people if we speak the truth because truth is offensive to our minds. We must offend our minds to mold our souls. God is in the business of offending our minds and our society has gotten so “me” centered that anything that doesn’t “feel good” is deemed evil. Well I’ll tell you there are times I come into His presence that don’t feel so good but I know the outcome IS.
Until we start teaching and accepting that not everything that feels good is good for us, and that sometimes pain is a GOOD thing… we will always be thin skinned and offended.
Agree we are too scared- at my church we are WAY too concerned with the production of the service, being inviting and non-threatening. We need to be more concerned with being spirit led and teaching God’s Word. The recent REVEAL data supports that - the greatest contributor (by things measured) to spiritual transformation was an active relationship with the scriptures.
Great post!
I think it depends what church you’re in. In our church (calvinist, heavily scripture-oriented), we’re concerned about using graphic design or “modern” approaches because it’s perceived as selling-out to contemporary trends.
My guess is that the conservative stream of the emerging church has got it right (Reach Life ministry, the Acts 29 Network, etc): communicate God-Centered, Scripture-Centered content in a way that is creative, relevant and fresh.
Another good question is: what are we trying to do with “church marketing”? Is it simply to encourage people to attend the church? Or is it creatively confronting the culture with the gospel — and as a side-effect raising awareness about a true-to-the-gospel church in the community?
– Peter Rust
Bellingham, Washington
I believe we are walking a very fine line. While I agree that modern churches seem overly sensitive about not offending anyone, I also don’t think it’s a bad idea to clearly communicate the Gospel using today’s methods. Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water; it can’t be a bad thing to have the bathrooms clearly marked, people greeting newcomers, or explaining salvation through modern English (as opposed to KJV-style language). But, yes, let’s not forget to present the complete Gospel. Some will be offended, and some will reject it. We are to throw it out there; the Holy Spirit will do the rest in each heart.