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Stop Looking for the Killer Ap!
By chris | November 20, 2006
Note: We have been discussing some of the theology behind ministry marketing in the last few posts. I plan on covering more as we develop the elements of the Ministry Marketing Mindset. For now, I’d like to talk about the calling to ministry marketing. I believe God can and is calling more people to help the church in this vital area. This course is going to take me a couple months to post, so please, stick with me! It’s going to get very practical very soon!
The Communication Calling of the Church
Reading the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-19) we see the church have been given a charge to communicate the gospel. We have seen that human beings have a responsibility in the calling to faithfully rely on God and yet be active in sharing the Good News.
Our role is to teach the gospel to the lost world around us. We are to transform the planet with the knowledge of Christ and with our living out the implications of our faith. We are to be “salt and light” to our generation. If we hope to transform culture and society we need to communicate better.
In my view culture is the sum total of how people live their lives in a particular context and society is the sum total of the relationships within a specific context. The better you understand both where you serve, the more effective you will be as a missionary. The missionary calling of the church is to interpret the message the Holy Spirit is sending to the world in a way that penetrates our culture and society.
Other spiritual forces are at work and secular ideas are being pushed in the mainstream marketplace using media channels. Groups with immoral objectives are working in ways that countermand our goal to bring the truth of the gospel to our world. We need to be more proactive in communicating the message!
Our Media-saturated Culture and Society
We live in a world that is dominated by communication channels. Our culture has become dependant on media for values. Our society communicates using media. Some see this as evidence of our impending downfall. They may be right, but, looking at it another way—this may be our greatest opportunity to impact the world through Christ.
In his day, the Apostle Paul used every available means to communicate in his context. He spoke Greek; he wrote letters; he made speeches; he traveled the Roman Empire on the roman roads. He entered into discussion at every level of society from kings to the lowly pauper.
“To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)
Now society has changed. We no long have people gather in the forum. The Roman roads are inferior to the information super highway of the internet for getting information from place to place. We still make speeches, but often they are video recordings or podcasts. What does a first century guy like Paul have to teach us?
Could Paul Handle Communicating in Our Day?
When I speak in various places, I usually ask people this question, “If Paul were to return to Athens to share the gospel, would he be effective today?” I get two kinds of answers. Yes and No.
No, Paul would not be effective. People don’t gather in the forum in Athens today. The people in Athens don’t talk all day about every new philosophy. They may not even be aware there is an altar to an unknown god in their midst. So Paul would not be able to communicate.
Yes, Paul would be effective. Since Paul’s approach would be to understand the people to whom he was speaking. He would have looked for bridges to link his message to that would connect with them. And he would use the channels they regularly use to communicate. If Paul were living on earth today he would use media. He would likely use video, internet, broadcasting, advertising, books, and more.
Paul Would Be Effective Because of His Principles, Not his Method
You could take Paul and plop him down in any location, in any period of time, turn him loose, and he would be an effective missionary. Not because he would have the universal program that would attract people. Instead he would be effective because he had a process that would be as effective today as it was back then. We need to reclaim that process for our ministry communications!
Looking at our situation, we have become dependant on program rather than process. The best ministries we admire have understood the process and become effective at ministry. Our first reaction in the church has been to imitate their programs, instead of unpacking their principles. If Paul were alive and serving today, the temptation would be great to put together a 13 week workbook course on “The Altar to an Unknown God” and sell it through Christian book distribution channels. Each church would get promotional materials and resources to invite their friends to the course. (I can already see the little Crossed-out Altar Key chains at the check out counter!)
Stop Looking for the Killer Ap!
The sadly amusing problem in the church is we are looking too often for the Killer Ap—that programmatic idea that “works”. We want to use the ones that worked elsewhere. And, oh the gravy—if only we could develop the one everyone else uses!
What we need is to understand the process of developing customized ministry to our context. Think about Jesus. He had the same mentality of Paul. When he spoke to Nicodemus he spoke about being “born again”. When he spoke to the Rich Young Ruler, he spoke of not putting money before God. When he spoke to the Woman at the Well in Samaria, he spoke of a drink that quenches thirst forever. He didn’t have the same presentation (or program) for everyone—yet he transformed the planet!
In our day, we have never had a time in the history of Christianity where we have had more evangelism strategies. Yet in the same time frame, we have had less evangelistic results. We have more access to global communication than ever before, yet we have not learned to be effective in our own public forum.
In my town of Oklahoma City, there is a lady who owns a hearing aid company. She does more advertising in the public forum than the entire evangelical community combined—yet she is a small local business. You can find out where to get a good hearing aid in the media in Oklahoma, but not where to get a good hearing of the gospel.
This is why we need more ministry marketing coaches. We need a group of dedicated communication leaders who can help ministry leaders have more effective communication. I know they want to reach the world, they just don’t know how to leverage all the power of the communication channels that are available. Ministry marketing is the process you can use to develop customized ministry for any context!
Okay, a little more hand wringing tomorrow. Soon we will be in the middle of the solution—stick with me
Topics: Theology & Marketing |
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