Do we chase awards or results

I just read a wonderful article by Jeff Goodby on Ad Age and it got me thinking. As churches, and those who market for churches, do we care more about the recognition of our peers than we do in the results of lives changed? Here is a quote from the article.

We’ve created a system that rewards work that is increasingly unknown to anyone outside the business. We have become connoisseurs of esoterica. And in the process, we’re becoming more about us, and less about changing the world.

We are becoming irrelevant award-chasers.

Sure, some of the best things we make nowadays are internet experiences with necessarily specific, limited audiences — that cab driver might not be expected to see them. But for the ones I’m talking about, the only intended audience is, well, us.

So have we become more about us and less about changing the world? Do we sometimes forget our job is not to create a buzz in the industry (the church) but to get people to see the free gift of grace from Christ. Next time you are working on a campaign or series keep this in the back of your mind, I know I will be.

Hit: Chase Jarvis & Ben Bender

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