Saturday, February 14, 2009

Experience Life At No Cost! Call 1-800-MEET-God

Today's culture has instilled in us the desire for instant gratification. We want what we want when we want it. We are losing the ability to delay pleasure for something much more gratifying down the road. What is the cause of this? Every day we are bombarded with advertisements that tell us what we "need." As Christians, we are supposed to rely solely on God and so advertisers have found a new way of marketing. If the mix Jesus into whatever they want to sell, they are able to tell us that by buying their product, we are in essence choosing God. We are, of course, to ignore the profit that they make from our "choice of God."

What does this mean for us? What does this mean for God? Christianity today had become so commercialized and watered down that a reading Bible verse on a bumper sticker is all it takes for salvation. How insulting is that!? Jesus has been paraphrased and summarized to the point where a one liner such as "Experience Life At No Cost! Call 1-800-MEET-God" is perfectly sufficient for sharing God with someone else. It even fits all of the criteria of today: quick, simple, and completely devoid of commitment, truth and responsibility.

The gospel itself has its own marketing strategy: "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." Matthew 28:18-20. That sounds good enough for me!


http://net-burst.net/quips/punchy.htm
www.ruighaver.net/bumperstickers/christian.htm
http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2008/06/marketing_fear.html

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2 comments:

  1. ChadFebruary 15, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    There is undoubtedly truth in the assertion that Christianity has become "commercialized and watered down," although I believe we as Christians are often quick to swing too far to the opposite side. There is nothing inherently sinful in commercialism itself; it is the vices that stem from the worship of latter that we are to eschew. The way I understand the Great Commission, Jesus wants us to put forth every conceivable effort to reach out to the fallen world around us, even if it means diverging from the conventional methods of generations before us--even using the assets that are made available to us by consumerism. The tricky part is to fit commercialism and consumerism into our faith, and not vice verse.

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  2. ArizonaFebruary 17, 2009 at 4:10 PM

    Today, Christianity is becoming more and more "consumer friendly." It is frightening that 'Christians' have turned to this alternative, but what can we expect from a society so consumed in the advertisment of goods. However, I believe it is possible to 'advertise' God in a positive way. We don't just have to SELL Jesus, but can spread His word, invite people to church, or tell about great things Christians have done. For instance, each year, a great number of people watch the Super Bowl and see a large number of commercials. Image what would happen if a commercial about God, Christianity, or Jesus aired. A tremendous amount of viewers would see , and have a chance to respond. But, for some reason, we haven't yet turned in that direction. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time.

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