Marketing - the Bible calls it Evanglisim

Marketing - How does it apply to the church?

Mention marketing of the church to a group of Christians and your likely to stir up a lively, if not, heated debate. Consider the following feedback one Christian organization received from a visitor to their web site:

I'm a Christian, and I'm offended by your business. First, can you see Jesus "marketing the church"? Second, you do it to make yourself money. You are the Hophni and Phineas of the 21st century. Shame on you.

Actually, we see Jesus marketing His message throughout His public ministry. How can level headed people see an issue so differently? Could it start with our understanding of what marketing is and how it applies to the church?

In this section, we will look at several “business” definitions of marketing and consider why elements of these definitions are difficult for Christians to embrace. We will consider whether being opportunistic in reaching lost people when our motives are pure is biblical. Finally, we will present the Church Marketing Institute’s definition of church marketing.

Marketing: Opportunity Balanced with Pure Motives?

For some people, marketing the church is associated with shady practices involving selling, exchanging money, and making profits. Consider the following definitions:

mar·ket n. A public gathering held for buying and selling merchandise. A place where goods are offered for sale. The opportunity to buy or sell.

mar·ket·ing n. The act or process of buying and selling in a market. The exchange of goods for an agreed sum of money. The commercial functions involved in transferring goods from producer to consumer.

Dictionary.com

These definitions focus on buying and selling goods and services. The idea of “selling” our faith makes all Christians uncomfortable. Our salvation is not something to be bought or sold, but instead comes through grace. As long as the idea of marketing the church is associated with buying or selling one’s faith, there will always be problems (we will see later that church marketing is not about selling faith).

To add fuel to the fire, consider John 2:14-17 where we see Jesus’ response to businessmen who turned the temple courts into a profit making market (business):

“In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."”

What is at the heart of Jesus’ strong response? Is it the fact that these men were opportunistic (i.e. selling is all about location, location, location and these men rationalized that what better location than where many people come everyday? Even little children learn at a young age that you locate lemonade stands where the people are)? Being opportunistic is not the problem; their motivation behind the opportunity is the problem.

What if these men were passionate about God and were setting up tables each day in the temple court to give away free literature about God or to talk with people about God? They are still taking advantage of the opportunity, but their motives are pure and focused on reaching lost people. Unfortunately, their motive was making money and had little to do with God.

Opportunity balanced with pure motives to reach lost people is a model we see throughout Jesus’ public ministry and the Apostle Paul’s ministry. Consider what Paul says in 1 Cor 9:18 – 22:

“What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it. Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 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.”

We see the picture of a man with extremely pure motives. A man with a passion for God who did whatever it took, including seizing worldly opportunities, to reach lost people with the gospel message.

Church marketing is all about building bridges to lost people so that they can hear the gospel message. This includes seizing opportunities to reach people that would otherwise not hear the gospel message. The foundation of marketing in the church must rest on pure motives; a passion for God and a passion to do whatever it takes to reach lost people.

Do we really believe that God’s heart aches for lost people and that His ultimate sacrifice is worthy of us doing “whatever it takes” to reach lost people? If so, why are we so reluctant to use marketing to reach people with the gospel message? In many cases, the answer lies in our misunderstanding of what “marketing the church” means!

Digging Deeper: Making Sense of it All

Before moving on to a definition of church marketing, let’s look at two more business definitions of marketing:

The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, good, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.

American Marketing Association

Marketing activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer those products. The marketing process includes all of the following:

· Discovering what product, service, or idea customers want

· Producing a product with the appropriate features and quality

· Pricing the product correctly

· Promoting the product; spreading the word about why customers should buy it.

· Selling and delivering the product into the hands of the customer

Online Women’s Business Center

Sound like a foreign language? If we move beyond the jargon, there are several concepts that are common to the traditional “business” definition of marketing. Specifically, marketing is a process that involves the following:

· Products and services

· Money and profit (buying and selling)

· Producers and consumers (businesses and customers)

· Pricing/cost

· Promotion

· Planning

· Production of goods and services (including determination of what goods and services to produce)

· Distribution of goods and services

We can see why the traditional definitions of marketing appear to breakdown when applied to the church (which also explains why many people are uncomfortable with the idea of marketing the church). Let’s take a deeper look at each of these elements of the marketing process to discern how they do and do not apply to the church.

Products and services: Microsoft makes software, Chevrolet makes cars, H&R Block offers tax services and CNN provides news. Non-profits and for-profits alike offer at least one product or service. So how about the church? The answer should be as obvious as it is for Microsoft and Chevrolet. Unfortunately, many people struggle with the answer. We need look no further than the great commission in Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus said:

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The mission of the church is to make and build up disciples. More specifically, the church exists to lead people into a growing relationship with God. Can a person be a disciple without a personal and growing relationship with God? Our product is all about relationships; relationships with God, lost people, and other believers. God frequently uses relationships between people to initiate relationships with Himself. The primary product of the church is relationships. The means to this end is love.

In most organizations, the product (and its features) changes based on the needs of the consumer. In the church, the product (relationships) remains fixed and has not changed in over 2000 years.

Profit: Most organizations, including the church, exist to make a profit. The difference between organizations is in how profits are measured. Most organizations measure profit in monetary forms. Not in the church. We measure profit in terms of reaching lost people (making disciples) and in seeing ever increasing maturity in faith by believers.

Pricing and cost: Most organizations set pricing by what people are willing to pay. Supply and demand drive our economy. The same product can have differing prices based on geographic locations and seasons. Not in the church. Our pricing is set by God. Christ paid the price to enable all men to be reconciled to God. Our price of admission is life changing commitment. Commitment that comes from believing that Jesus is God’s Son, repenting of our sins (turning from our current sinful lifestyle and striving to live a life worthy of our new calling), and committing our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. We express this commitment through baptism and changed behaviors. God has set the price the same for all men.

Promotion: Promotion is all about building awareness of a product. In most organizations, the goal of promotion is to persuade people that their felt needs can be satisfied through the purchase of a product. In the church, the goal of promotion is to enable more people to hear the gospel message so that the Holy Spirit can convict them that the product is worth the cost. Promotion is a key step in the marketing process because it involves connecting people with a product.

Concept	Business	Church
Product or Service	Cars, computers, news, etc.	Relationships
Profit	$$$$ Managers are accountable to owners for performance.	New Believers and Maturity Each Christian is accountable to God for results.
Pricing and Cost	$$$$ Determining what people are willing to pay for the product. Cost/price is variable and depends on what people are willing to pay.	Commitment Price/cost has already been set by God and is unchanging.
Producer	The Business Itself	All Christians through the power and work of the Holy Spirit
Consumer	Anyone willing to pay the cost	Anyone willing to pay the cost
Promotion	Awareness of product. Persuade people that their felt need for the product is worth the cost.	Awareness of product. Enable more people to hear the gospel message so that the Holy Spirit can convict them that the product will satisfy their real needs.
Planning	Determining the product features and benefits that people want and how best to convince them to pay the cost	Determining how best to cooperate with God in reaching lost people. Seizing opportunities to build bridges that expose people to the gospel
Production	Producing the physical product or service. Product service is complete at the time it is delivered to the consumer.	Production never ends. Our relationships continually grow. There is not a specific point in time where the product (relationships) is finished
Distribution	Connecting consumers with products at the producers place of business	Our place of business is everywhere. Relationships have no physical boundaries.

A New Paradigm: Church Marketing

As illustrated above, the concept of marketing in the church is radically different from marketing in the business world. In most organizations outside the church, the product changes based on the needs of consumers. Price is determined based on what people are willing to pay. Profit is measured in monetary terms. Promotion is aimed at persuading people their felt needs will be satisfied by purchasing the product.

In the church, the product (relationships) is fixed and has remained unchanged for over 2000 years. Price is also fixed and is determined by God. Price is not measured in money, but by commitment. Profit is measured in terms of souls won for Christ. Promotion is aimed at enabling as many people as possible to hear the gospel message, and, through hearing, to allow the Holy Spirit to convict them that the church’s product will satisfy their real needs.

Based on the above, I personally define church marketing as follows:

Church marketing - The process of communicating the features and benefits of the Church's product (relationships) in a compelling manner that helps people take their next step in pursuing the Church's product (relationships).

Key points include:

· Marketing is a process

· Marketing is communication

· The church’s product is relationships

· The goal of church marketing is to help people take next steps in pursuing God