Market Driven Philosophy #2

Continuing on with Gary Gilley's This Little Church Went to Market.

Quoting Wells, 'But neither Christ nor his truth can be marketing by appealing to consumer interest, because the premise of all marketing is that the consumer's need is sovereign, that the customer is always right and this is precisely what the gospel insists cannot be the case.'

What if the consumer changes?

The following two quotes are worthy of pondering: 'He who marries the spirit of the age soon becomes a widower'; 'To be always relevant, you h ave to say things which are eternal.' What happens when the fickle consumer changes his interests, or develops new wants, as he inevitably will? Will today's cutting-edge pastor suddenly find himself stampeded by the herd tomorrow? In order to avoid such a tragedy must be keep his ear to the ground of modern marketing techniques? Will he become a slave to polls and surveys? And how does all of this affect his use of the Bible? We don't have to have a crystal ball to answer these questions; all we have to do is look behind us. The Church has always fought, and too often lost, the battle with its age.

In order to market a church to the unsaved consumer, he must be given what he wants. Since unsaved consumers do not desire God, or the things of God, they have to be enticed by something else. Thus the temptation arises for a church to change, or at least hide, who they are so that they appeal to unchurched Harry. Additionally, the church is tempted to alter its message to correspond with what Harry wants to hear and thinks he needs. The end result is a felt-need gospel that appeals to Harry's fallen nature in an effort to entice him to come to Christ, the ultimate felt-need supplier, so that he is fulfilled and feels better about himself.

But, 'Can churches really hide their identity without losing their religious character? Can the church view people as consumers without inevitably forgetting that they are sinners? Can the church promote the gospel as a product and not forget that those who buy it must repent? Can the church market itself and not forget that it does not belong to itself but to Christ? Can the church pursue success in the market place and not lose it's biblical faithfulness?' I believe the answers to these questions are self-evident.

Tomorrow's chapter will be on Psychology. Have you ever thought of church in this way before, paralleling marketing with delivering the gospel? Lots to think about. Until tomorrow, blessings on this beautiful Lord's day.