SoulWork
Super Bowl Evangelism
Most television sports fans put up with commercials to enjoy the privilege of watching the game. When it comes to the Super Bowl, I'm one who puts up with the game to have the privilege of watching the commercials. For this high and holy feast of American culture, marketing geniuses pull out all the stops to create some of the most memorable ads of the year. It's a day when America's magnificent marketing muscle is flexed in all its splendor.
As such, Super Bowl Sunday reminds us how much marketing permeates our life. If Jesus is "in, with, and under" the bread of Communion (at least according to Martin Luther), then marketing is "in, with, and under" every facet of American life. Estimates as to how many ads Americans view each day range widely—250 to 5,000—but even the low figure boggles the imagination. We swim in the waters of advertising, we are nursed on marketing milk, we breathe the air of the latest offer—choose your worn-out metaphor!
It's not surprising, then, that a church immersed in this environment would find it almost impossible to conceive of evangelism as anything but a form of marketing. If companies have slogans that make promises to customers, churches must have them as well. From "The family church, where everyone is welcome," to "The place where transformation happens," to "Every day in every way, growing closer to God," or whatever, the message is: Join this church, and you'll get some benefit.
Then there's the ubiquitous use of come-ons: Sundays when clowns or magicians or celebrities come to church to attract visitors. And the giveaways to first time visitors: coffee mugs, Starbucks cards, pens, Bibles. And the marketing cards (though we call them "Welcome Cards") for visitors to fill out so we can follow up. And on it goes.
The church's greatest marketing tool is its pastor, of course. That's why there's such a demand for pastors who are both charismatic (in the non-spiritual sense!) and savvy, because churches know that their chief selling point is the personality of the chief operating minister. Pastors are encouraged to talk about themselves in their sermons as much as they talk about Jesus, because, after all, people want to identify with their pastor. Thus the ubiquitous use of personal illustrations from the pastor's life and family—they're funny, engaging, and make the church that much more attractive to newcomers.
Along the way—in sermons, in church slogans, and implicit in special evangelistic or missional events—are the promises. The therapeutic: Things will go better with Jesus. The practical: You'll find ideas for life. The transformational: You will be all that you can be. And whether the church is draped in the Disney-like efficiency of the megachurch or the counterculture of hipster rebellion, coolness is often an implicit part of the mix.
This should not shock or alarm us. Immersed as we are in a Super Bowl culture, what else is a church supposed to do? We think we have a "product" (albeit head and shoulders above any other product) to "sell." And we think we have to use good marketing if we're going to get people to buy into Jesus. Though I'm clearly no fan of this approach, let's face it: it often works. Many people come to faith and join churches by such means (even if they then have to spend years unlearning what such a method implies: that faith in Christ is a deal or transaction). So while I poke fun, I don't think it wise to condemn a method a gracious God is willing to stoop to use.
SoulWork
In "SoulWork," Mark Galli brings news, Christian theology, and spiritual direction together to explore what it means to be formed spiritually in the image of Jesus Christ.
Mark Galli
Galli is editor of Christianity Today and author of God Wins, Chaos and Grace, A Great and Terrible Love, Jesus Mean and Wild, Francis of Assisi and His World, and other books.
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Roger McKinney
Obviously, one's attitude toward marketing depends upon one's soteriology. It appears that many people think that ugly Christians block sinners from salvation and beautiful Christians attract them, so we need do nothing to evangelize but to be beautiful Christians. It's as if they think salvation is a beauty contest. But Jesus and the disciples were the most beautiful Christians ever and they got crucified. The vast majority of Israel rejected Christ. Was it because he was a poor example? I think not! What did Jesus say was the reason people reject him? He said their hearts were hard, like stony ground. He said they love darkness more than the light because their deeds are evil. Through Paul, Jesus wrote that people know the truth but suppress it with immorality. Even crass marketing is nothing but an attempt to persuade sinners to listen to the gospel one more time. But if you think salvation is a beauty contest you won't be interested.
Clem Boyd
We settle for a marketing approach because it's easy, plain and simple. There is a place for marketing, but it's secondary (or third-ondary, maybe fourth-ondary) to what Mark writes about. With marketing we can say we've done our bit for evangelism without getting messy or being put out. We don't have to go to the messy, sinful person's house and have dinner with him. We don't have to deal with their complicated life choices. We don't have to visit them in prison, dig around in our closets to give them a shirt or do anything that's uncomfortable. I was struck the other day how Jesus said people referred to him as a pig and a drunk who hung out with low-lifes (my translation of Luke 7:34). Would people accuse us of that because we're trying to love some folks who don't know God? I hope so.
Matt Pennock
It's sad how many have come to believe marketing is equated with publicizing. The painful part is the scores of people being sold salvation on the cheap who expect to receive this nice, wonderful "abundant" life that Jesus in fact did not promise (there is a world of difference between "abundant life" and "life abundantly") only to be bitterly disillusioned down the road when they find out that it's actually a hard life ("the way is hard") and that there is a cost of discipleship which goes way, WAY beyond your church attendance, tithe, and a $75 leather bound Bible. You must lose your life, your whole life. Jesus did not come to give you your dream life. He came to take it. Think about his words to the rich young ruler living the good life. Some marketing strategy! Check out http://www.harderthanflint.com/articles/christianity-and-consumerism/ for more on how this has been detrimental to our witness as a church.
Karl Dahlfred
Excellent analysis. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is nothing new. Going back to Charles Finney's 19th century revivals in NY and on the American frontier, the church had been using a man-centered approach to get people "saved" for almost 200 years. The underlying problem is that we have little confidence in God's appoint methods to save people - His Word (Rom. 10:17) and the love of the Christian community (John 17:22-23)
K L
@steve m - It sounds like you read only the first page of this article. If you read the other two pages, you'd have seen that Mark did offer an alternative -- trusting in God's grace instead of our own abilities, and living out lives of genuine love for our neighbors.