SoulWork
Super Bowl Evangelism
Still, I believe there is a better way to reach out to those who don't know how close God is to them. It's a way that is much more in accord with the gospel we proclaim.
First, note three basic assumptions of marketing culture. First, people are basically in pretty good shape; they just need one more product or service to make their lives complete. Second, people just need an attractive offer to entice them to accept the deal. Third, life is fundamentally a deal, an exchange; companies offer goods and services, and we get them into our lives when we pay for them. As they say, there is no free lunch.
Note how the gospel's assumptions turn these ideas on their heads. First, people are "dead in their trespasses" (Eph. 2:1). That is, their situation is utterly hopeless. They don't need improvement as much as resurrection to new life.
Second, because they are dead, an attractive offer is not going to do any good. It would be like a salesman walking into a morgue to convince corpses to buy life insurance.
This is why Paul is so emphatic about how we come to faith in Christ. Replacing phrases like "plausible words of wisdom" with something contemporary, note how he describes his initial evangelistic visit to Corinth:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with persuasive marketing techniques. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not framed in marketing logic, but in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:1-5).
Only the Spirit can bring the dead back to life. As Paul told his protégé Titus:
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5).
Faith is pure gift, pure miracle, pure work of the Spirit. There is nothing we can do to bring this about. "Without any possibility on our side," wrote Karl Barth in his exposition of the Apostles' Creed, "God's great possibility comes into view, making possible what is impossible from our side. It is God's gift, God's free gift not prepared for by anything on our side."
It also is true that we can do nothing to prevent this from happening. No matter how hypocritical, uncool, or marketing inept a church is, the Spirit moves people to give their lives to Jesus and his church. If the Crusades, the Salem witch trials, and the Inquisition were not enough to sabotage the appeal of Christian faith, singing moribund hymns with a bunch of old ladies (or whatever else embarrasses us about the church today) will not stop the Holy Spirit.
Third, if the gospel is a transaction, it is a transaction that is offered and completed by the same party: God. God does not offer forgiveness on the condition that we repent. There is no quid pro quo, no this-for-that, no exchange. Instead, he offers forgiveness so that we might repent and enjoy abundant life! So there is, in fact, a free lunch.
To put it in commercial terms: Our credit rating is in the double digits. Our home is in foreclosure. Chapter 11 is our middle name. And yet along comes a developer who gives us the deed and the keys to a mansion. Naturally, in order to enjoy our new home, we need to open the door and step in. God wants us to enjoy a real participation in his life. But this is not a quid pro quo or a condition—the house is already ours—as much as it is simply the way we enjoy the gift. (That some refuse to enjoy the gift and do so stubbornly, for eternity, is a great mystery. But it does not change the miraculous and gracious nature of the gift.)
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.
- Christian Athletes Are Not Role Models
- On the Death—and Life—of Innocent Children
- Closer than Ever to the Breath of God
- Making Non-Sense of the Colorado Shootings
- Mastering the Golf Swing of Life
Grieving with the Good Friday God
La complejidad hispana: Todo cambió en el 2012
(on articles open to the public, you must at least register for a free account).
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletters
Google
Comments
Displaying 1–3 of 24 comments
See all comments
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.