A thought provoking post HERE from Jim Thomas about the Church's approach to trying to fulfill the Great Commission:
"We have abandoned the leading and directing of the Holy Spirit in search of another way to fulfill the great commission and see numerical results. So in doing this we embraced the corporate world marketing methods and learned who to sell a product, gain a consumer, retain that consumer, and get them to tell a friend about us. I believe the church has taken the 'Great Commission" and modernized into a corporate business model. We are now operating according to principles that most effectively and efficiently generate growth, incorporate name recognition, produce satisfied customers, and maintain customer retention."
Showing posts with label Church Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church Marketing. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Reasons People Attend Church
Apparently the music, coffee bars, kiddie play lands, etc., don't really matter that much after all. Haven't we been saying this all along?
Monday, February 25, 2008
Pastor Issues "30 Day Sex Challenge"
By now you’ve either seen it on the news or read about the 30 Day Sex Challenge issued by Pastor Paul Wirth of Relevant Church in Tampa. The challenge goes like this: Single men and women can’t have sex for 30 days, and married couples are urged to have it every day. Pastor Wirth says he hopes that in 30 days people can form "good habits".
Read the rest of the story HERE.
While I believe that the church should absolutely deal with the topic of sex in a Biblical fashion, my problem with this - is not only the titillation used to promote the topic, which is clearly over the top - but the implication of the challenge itself.
Encouraging married couples to have sex for thirty straight days may sound noble to some, but isn't that making sex the goal, instead of intimacy? Intimacy leading to sex will strengthen a marriage - but to robotically have sex with your spouse simply for the purpose of accepting a challenge - how romantic. The '30 day' bit seems to be a Television-ized version of sex born out of societies sex-crazed distortions and perversions.
Encouraging single Christians to abstain from sex for 30 days? Shouldn't that standard be uplifted 365 days a year? Also there is the implication of "if you can't form the good habit of abstinence after 30 days, oh well - at least you gave it a try." We're not talking about brushing and flossing your teeth here. These are issues that affect the souls of men and women. The standard of abstinence before marriage found clearly in God's Word doesn't change with our ability to keep it. Being obedient to the Word should go well beyond my whims of successful habit forming.
Read the rest of the story HERE.
While I believe that the church should absolutely deal with the topic of sex in a Biblical fashion, my problem with this - is not only the titillation used to promote the topic, which is clearly over the top - but the implication of the challenge itself.
Encouraging married couples to have sex for thirty straight days may sound noble to some, but isn't that making sex the goal, instead of intimacy? Intimacy leading to sex will strengthen a marriage - but to robotically have sex with your spouse simply for the purpose of accepting a challenge - how romantic. The '30 day' bit seems to be a Television-ized version of sex born out of societies sex-crazed distortions and perversions.
Encouraging single Christians to abstain from sex for 30 days? Shouldn't that standard be uplifted 365 days a year? Also there is the implication of "if you can't form the good habit of abstinence after 30 days, oh well - at least you gave it a try." We're not talking about brushing and flossing your teeth here. These are issues that affect the souls of men and women. The standard of abstinence before marriage found clearly in God's Word doesn't change with our ability to keep it. Being obedient to the Word should go well beyond my whims of successful habit forming.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Church Hands Out What??
(The pastor says his goal is to "impress people who don't go to church". If that's the goal, why stop there? Dress your greeters up like Hooter's girls as well - that will definitely impress those who don't go to church. How about handing out bongs engraved with the church logo at the local university too? That would surely impress the students. Sadly, another little piggy goes off to market....)
To get people to attend his new church campus, Robbie McLaughlin is sending his message out to where the people are.
Next Friday, staffers from Next Level Church of Matthews will go to bars in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte to hand out shot glasses which ask patrons to "give us a shot" and bear the slogan, "Real church for real people."
The idea is to draw people to the Ballantyne campus, which opens next month.
McLaughlin is the pastor, and said he is confident that it will be controversial, but he said the goal is not necessarily to impress people who already go to church. He said it's to impress people who don't.
Next Level is a nontraditional church that encourages members to dress casually and snack on coffee and doughnuts during services.
McLaughlin said the idea has caught on, and in two years, the church has grown from a handful of members to more than 700.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
The Giveaway Gospel
(Note the powerful statement from the atheist below: "Nothing secures my atheism more than the fact that religion needs marketing. You would think that the truth would be all that’s needed wouldn’t you?” Ouch for the church marketeers.)
By Ray Baumann
I recently walked out of a Wal-Mart and noticed that all the cars in the parking lot were covered with flyers. Sure enough, there, on my truck, stuck under my windshield wiper, was a flyer. It read, “Win a car this Sunday!” and had the name of a local church that was giving it away. A car! Man, who wouldn’t want to show up for that?
What a great marketing idea if you are looking for exposure; if you’re a bank looking to open new accounts or a car dealer looking for people to come in for a test drive. But a church? Come on! It is now a very popular trend in the modern church to entice people with giveaways through contests and raffles. I guess the thought is along the lines of, “We can’t reach people if they don’t come to church.” So, go ahead and bribe them.
Welcome to the American church, where the lines between religion and consumerism blend into one giant gospel smoothie. I have heard of churches giving away iPods, Xboxes and smart phones, even a year’s worth of movies passes. Now those raffle-driven churches have really upped the ante with giving away cars, vacations, cash and homes. It seems that churches believe they are competing for a target audience. Churches are becoming more like the Price is Right than a place for training disciples and a resource for believers.
But, that is not as attractive to unbelievers because they are looking for something for nothing. The church calls this evangelism while people crowd in tight to see if they have won one of the many mega prizes given away each Sunday, all done in the name of boosting attendance. Why? The pastor’s own pride. If you win people with gimmicks you have to keep them with gimmicks. Through all of this, Jesus sits back and watches the foolishness of man and his desire to push his agenda over the Lord’s agenda. Disciplining believers is not sexy enough for most pastors because it won’t put their name in lights or get them multiple book deals or pack out the church every night.
An intense statement was sent to me in the title of an email I received from an atheist. It said, “Nothing secures my atheism more than the fact that religion needs marketing. You would think that the truth would be all that’s needed wouldn’t you?” This is probably the most profound statement I have ever read coming from an unbeliever. A numbers-driven gimmick gospel has compromised the American pulpit all in the name of being more effective in our culture. But the last time I checked, life and death and where people spend eternity are subjects that transcend every culture and cut right to the conscience.
There is only one gospel and it can’t be marketed, it can’t be repackaged to be an attractive product for our culture. If anyone will hate the true gospel of Jesus Christ it will be Americans. Why do we think the message must change with the culture? We need to realize that the message must never change. There is a judgment to come. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:18)
Remember the last time judgment came upon the earth? It had something to do with a giant boat and a man named Noah. I don’t recall the gimmicks used by Noah. It’s not recorded that he enticed anyone to come on to the ark. There were no freebies, no free food or raffles. He didn’t open the ark as a petting zoo. He sure wasn’t very relevant, because he just preached repentance and left the rest up to God. Noah was a prophet who lived in an age similar to our own a time where greed, gluttony, drunkenness, sexual license and violence filled the earth. The Savior described Noah's day in the following words in Matthew 24:38:“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39: And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
All of the prophets in the Bible proclaimed repentance. If pastors try proclaiming anything else they lead their flocks astray. Just getting the world’s attention is not what we are called to do.
By Ray Baumann
I recently walked out of a Wal-Mart and noticed that all the cars in the parking lot were covered with flyers. Sure enough, there, on my truck, stuck under my windshield wiper, was a flyer. It read, “Win a car this Sunday!” and had the name of a local church that was giving it away. A car! Man, who wouldn’t want to show up for that?
What a great marketing idea if you are looking for exposure; if you’re a bank looking to open new accounts or a car dealer looking for people to come in for a test drive. But a church? Come on! It is now a very popular trend in the modern church to entice people with giveaways through contests and raffles. I guess the thought is along the lines of, “We can’t reach people if they don’t come to church.” So, go ahead and bribe them.
Welcome to the American church, where the lines between religion and consumerism blend into one giant gospel smoothie. I have heard of churches giving away iPods, Xboxes and smart phones, even a year’s worth of movies passes. Now those raffle-driven churches have really upped the ante with giving away cars, vacations, cash and homes. It seems that churches believe they are competing for a target audience. Churches are becoming more like the Price is Right than a place for training disciples and a resource for believers.
But, that is not as attractive to unbelievers because they are looking for something for nothing. The church calls this evangelism while people crowd in tight to see if they have won one of the many mega prizes given away each Sunday, all done in the name of boosting attendance. Why? The pastor’s own pride. If you win people with gimmicks you have to keep them with gimmicks. Through all of this, Jesus sits back and watches the foolishness of man and his desire to push his agenda over the Lord’s agenda. Disciplining believers is not sexy enough for most pastors because it won’t put their name in lights or get them multiple book deals or pack out the church every night.
An intense statement was sent to me in the title of an email I received from an atheist. It said, “Nothing secures my atheism more than the fact that religion needs marketing. You would think that the truth would be all that’s needed wouldn’t you?” This is probably the most profound statement I have ever read coming from an unbeliever. A numbers-driven gimmick gospel has compromised the American pulpit all in the name of being more effective in our culture. But the last time I checked, life and death and where people spend eternity are subjects that transcend every culture and cut right to the conscience.
There is only one gospel and it can’t be marketed, it can’t be repackaged to be an attractive product for our culture. If anyone will hate the true gospel of Jesus Christ it will be Americans. Why do we think the message must change with the culture? We need to realize that the message must never change. There is a judgment to come. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:18)
Remember the last time judgment came upon the earth? It had something to do with a giant boat and a man named Noah. I don’t recall the gimmicks used by Noah. It’s not recorded that he enticed anyone to come on to the ark. There were no freebies, no free food or raffles. He didn’t open the ark as a petting zoo. He sure wasn’t very relevant, because he just preached repentance and left the rest up to God. Noah was a prophet who lived in an age similar to our own a time where greed, gluttony, drunkenness, sexual license and violence filled the earth. The Savior described Noah's day in the following words in Matthew 24:38:“For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39: And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
All of the prophets in the Bible proclaimed repentance. If pastors try proclaiming anything else they lead their flocks astray. Just getting the world’s attention is not what we are called to do.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Relevant irrelevance
I recently read some statistics from Josh McDowell's book, The New Tolerance, that concerned me. He cites a study done that shows that:
* 57% of churched youth do not believe that an objective standard of truth exists.
* 53% of those who identify themselves as conservative Christians do not believe in absolute
truth.
* 84% of first year Christian college students cannot defend or explain their beliefs.
* 66% of those who say it is important to follow the teachings of the Bible reject moral absolutes.
Of course all Bible truth hinges on the doctrine of Divine Inspiration of Scripture. Everyone who believes in the Divine Inspiration of Scripture must then believe that the Bible is inherently and infallible (true and without error). Therefore if Christians believe this, then they must believe that the Bible is absolute truth.
Here lies the problem: If "conservative Christian" adults and "churched youth" don't believe in absolute truth, then they are in fact rejecting the very Bible and the very God they claim to believe in. Ever wonder why Christianity and so many Christians seem so weak in America?
This leads to the next question: Why would so many Christians embrace this false view and why would 84% of first year Christian college students not be able to defend their faith?
These facts present incriminating evidence that the church is not teaching Bible doctrine like it should. Why is that? The answer is simple. Many churches have a new boss. His name? Relevance. In many cases today, churches and ministers are so concerned about bowing at the altar of being relevant, that sound Biblical doctrine is being tossed aside. The new paradigm is preaching that which attracts the crowd by meeting the "felt needs" of the audience in order to build the crowd. While this may lead to happy group therapy sessions on Sunday morning, this has wreaked havoc on the Body of Christ - leading to Christians who neither know the Word of God nor solid Bible doctrines that will keep them living for God in tough times. They can, however, give you a scripture from the Message Bible about how God wants you to have a Coke and a smile while getting a pay raise at work. (The sarcasm font was on during that last sentence.)
Most "felt needs" preachers would agree with me in principle concerning lifting up Bible doctrines, but would add something like, "We merely preach a timeless message with modern methods." Apparently for 84% of our college students the "timeless message" is being lost in the "modern methods". One could even argue that if Jesus was concerned about being relevant to the culture He came to 2,000 years ago He would have come as a King on a throne or a high powered religious leader. Instead His truth and His reality that liberates sinners makes Him relevant - no side shows needed.
Truth, in and of itself, is relevant and doesn't need to be excused or apologized for - just upheld, proclaimed and declared without the "bait and switch" methods reminiscent of parents trying to sneak the healthy vegetables onto their child's dinner plate. Jesus said that knowing truth would set us free. God's truth, therefore, must be our primary objective.
If knowing God's Word and Bible doctrine isn't a value among Christians today, then the onus is on the person standing behind the pulpit to teach it's value. In the effort to be relevant, many in the church growth movement are actually becoming irrelevant - How ironic.
* 57% of churched youth do not believe that an objective standard of truth exists.
* 53% of those who identify themselves as conservative Christians do not believe in absolute
truth.
* 84% of first year Christian college students cannot defend or explain their beliefs.
* 66% of those who say it is important to follow the teachings of the Bible reject moral absolutes.
Of course all Bible truth hinges on the doctrine of Divine Inspiration of Scripture. Everyone who believes in the Divine Inspiration of Scripture must then believe that the Bible is inherently and infallible (true and without error). Therefore if Christians believe this, then they must believe that the Bible is absolute truth.
Here lies the problem: If "conservative Christian" adults and "churched youth" don't believe in absolute truth, then they are in fact rejecting the very Bible and the very God they claim to believe in. Ever wonder why Christianity and so many Christians seem so weak in America?
This leads to the next question: Why would so many Christians embrace this false view and why would 84% of first year Christian college students not be able to defend their faith?
These facts present incriminating evidence that the church is not teaching Bible doctrine like it should. Why is that? The answer is simple. Many churches have a new boss. His name? Relevance. In many cases today, churches and ministers are so concerned about bowing at the altar of being relevant, that sound Biblical doctrine is being tossed aside. The new paradigm is preaching that which attracts the crowd by meeting the "felt needs" of the audience in order to build the crowd. While this may lead to happy group therapy sessions on Sunday morning, this has wreaked havoc on the Body of Christ - leading to Christians who neither know the Word of God nor solid Bible doctrines that will keep them living for God in tough times. They can, however, give you a scripture from the Message Bible about how God wants you to have a Coke and a smile while getting a pay raise at work. (The sarcasm font was on during that last sentence.)
Most "felt needs" preachers would agree with me in principle concerning lifting up Bible doctrines, but would add something like, "We merely preach a timeless message with modern methods." Apparently for 84% of our college students the "timeless message" is being lost in the "modern methods". One could even argue that if Jesus was concerned about being relevant to the culture He came to 2,000 years ago He would have come as a King on a throne or a high powered religious leader. Instead His truth and His reality that liberates sinners makes Him relevant - no side shows needed.
Truth, in and of itself, is relevant and doesn't need to be excused or apologized for - just upheld, proclaimed and declared without the "bait and switch" methods reminiscent of parents trying to sneak the healthy vegetables onto their child's dinner plate. Jesus said that knowing truth would set us free. God's truth, therefore, must be our primary objective.
If knowing God's Word and Bible doctrine isn't a value among Christians today, then the onus is on the person standing behind the pulpit to teach it's value. In the effort to be relevant, many in the church growth movement are actually becoming irrelevant - How ironic.
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