Instead of losing talent during tough times, try this alternative.

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You are who you are.  God has called you to be unique and different.  The world isn’t looking for another Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, Beth Moore, Billy Graham, Tony Evans, Ed Young, or T.D. Jakes.  They just might be looking for you.  If an advertising or marketing consultant tries to change your unique style, gifts, or calling, then you’re on the wrong track from the beginning.  A great marketer will take the time to understand who you are, what your personal and ministry gifts are, what your vision for ministry really is, and focus on that.  It’s not about changing your calling, it’s about celebrating your calling.

Should you change that dumpy suit, the bad accent, or the lime green  carpet in the church?  Probably.  Don’t let a bad package pre-qualify your audience.  Remove any boundaries that would keep people from hearing your message, but in the process, don’t lose the message itself.

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Biz Community reports that Vodacom in South Africa is producing the first soap exclusively for mobile phones.

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I’ve written before the “culture is more important than vision,” and it’s proven prophetic when it comes to the amazing success of Pixar’s animated movies.  Check out this article from 37 Signals about how Pixar works from the inside.  What can you take from this to help transform your organization?

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Are we losing our moral authority in the culture, by trying to reach a larger audience?  In my book “Branding Faith” I talk about what I call the “Marketing Conflict.”.  We can plead a life of poverty, until we realize that reaching a mass audience through the media costs millions of dollars.  We can make a hard stand for an issue, until we realize that without some negotiation, we’ll never have much influence in government.  We can be strident about public morality, until we come up against other belief systems who want equal voices in the conversation.  As Walter Brueggemann points out, the Jewish nation wrestled with the divisive issue of cultural accommodation thousands of years ago, so this is nothing new.    

That doesn’t cause us to stop, but it does make us aware of the tension involved in presenting our message to a 21st century audience.   

Financial challenges are a great example.  Pastor Gary Keesee in Columbus, Ohio was a financial planner before he was called into ministry.  From that unique perspective he likes to say, “You’ll never achieve your destiny until you get the money thing fixed.”  For instance, just try to walk away from your job and be a missionary with a huge financial debt hanging over your head, or attempt to go into fulltime ministry with a poor record balancing a budget.  Without a miracle, you’re in for a real challenge.  

Life happens.  As fallen creatures we live in conflict everyday.

But many refuse to accept the conflict, and on the one hand, some Christian marketing “experts” relentlessly extol the virtues of marketing churches and ministries with little regard for the damage it can cause.  But on the other hand, academics and ministry leaders have written carloads of books decrying marketing as the end of the church as we know it.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle, I wrestle with the task of getting the Christian message to as many people as possible, and at the same time, keeping the church distinctive and unique, without making us look weird and crazy.

The conflict will always be there, and our goal is to seek balance.  Getting people into the seats without harming the integrity or perception of the church as a life changing entity, and yet extending grace to those who walk away in spite of our best efforts.

Academics or critics can sit at a distance and make their pronouncements, but for those of us in the trenches, wrestling with that conflict is a way of life.  

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Yes

No

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Dunham + Company has just released this new survey on consumer use of Christian radio.  I'd be curious to know if you would agree based on your personal experience, or if it surprised you.

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The lawsuit involving a Michigan gay man suing two Bible publishers and the California court ruling on same-sex marriage has really made me mourn the loss of two important aspects of our culture:

1)  The Loss of Dissent:  With the court ruling on same sex marriage, I fear we've lost the ability to dissent and the freedom of speech that comes with it.  What used to be a great liberal ideal has now been relegated to the dustbin of history. The New Mexico wedding photographer discovered that fact when she decided because of her religious beliefs to turn down a request to photograph a gay wedding.  She was sued and has now lost the case.  So now, legally it's apparently impossible to dissent from the issue because of personal morality, values, or religious beliefs.  The problem is that there are intellectual and reflective arguments on both sides of the issue, but now, when it comes to this issue, dissent is illegal.  If the government can force us to act contrary to our moral and religious values on this issue, it can force it on any issue.  The paradox is that the very value the gay community has always championed – their right to live their lives according to their dictates – has now been denied to the rest of us.

That has certainly opened to door to lawsuits like the one in Michigan.  After all, if we can’t dissent from believing same-sex marriage is not in the culture’s best interest, then what do we do with all those pesky religious beliefs and the preachers who teach that stuff?  We’ve got to get rid of those as well.  Will the gulags not be far behind?

2)  The Loss of a Definition:  After literally thousands of years, we've lost the definition of the word "marriage" from our vocabulary.  The word has always been used in reference to the core unit of a man and woman and the ability to procreate.  But now, that definition doesn't exist anymore.  It's not an issue of gay couples being able to live together, share benefits, tax status, or have a family unit.  But by co-opting the word "marriage," they haven't expanded it's definition, they've eliminated it.  I'm not against same-sex couples of any kind living together legally and with financial and government benefits, in the same way two aging grandmothers should be allowed to live as a family with the retirement benefits, beneficiary benefits, and hospital access that means.  But I fear to change the very definition of the word marriage is a far greater loss that we realize.  

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Here's a peek at the feature story in the August edition of Conde Nast's Portfolio business magazine on pastor Joel Osteen.  

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On this issues of "boycotts," a lot has been said about "compromise."  I really think the dreaded "C" word freaks people out way too much these days.  It might be informative to note that in the book, Biblical Perspectives on Evangelism: Living in a Three Storied Universe, theologian Walter Brueggemann comments on the Old Testament nation of Israel’s accommodation:
      “In the disciplines of fasting and sackcloth, the Israelites “separated themselves from all foreigners” and confessed their sin (Nehemiah 9:1-2).  This act in the drama needs to be understood carefully.  Wrongly understood, according to Christian stereotypes of Jews, this separation sounds like arrogant legalism.  Such a view misses the point completely.  Rather, this community in its amnesia had assimilated itself, domesticated its memory, and compromised its identity, so that it had nothing left of itself.  Judaism had become such a detrimental embarrassment, that Jews had worked to overcome their Jewishness.  And now, in these dangerous liturgical acts, Jews are facing up to their oddity, to their strong commitment, to their distinctive obedience.  The recovery of distinctiveness entails the acceptance of an odd identity.  I report this point to you because I believe the church in the United States faces a crisis of accommodation and compromise that is near to final evaporation.  Note well, the distinctiveness is not in doctrine or in morality, but in memory.  For the text adds that all through this time of separation, “They stood up in their place and read from the book of the law.”

    Today, while everyone worries about doctrinal compromise, Brueggemann reminds us that the issue isn't about what we believe as much as it's about our identity.  In this case, who we are as Christians in the digital age.  Remember the Unique Selling Proposition – what makes a product different from every other product in the marketplace.  What makes the Church different and unique today?

   Hopefully, it’s more than the snappy design of your church newsletter.

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