Marketing Jesus

So. Another article I just read I found extremely interesting. A friend of mine had bought a copy of "Christianity Today" for a class he's in because the cover depicted a Starbucks label, but instead of the woman in the circle it was Jesus and instead of "Starbucks Coffee" it was "Marketing Jesus". I found it really interesting so I went online and read the cover story, which was in essence a break down of how Christians in America use marketing to evangelize and the pros and cons to that.

A couple of the pros included: America virtually speaks in the language of marketing, and if you were a missionary in other land you would learn the language, so Christians speaking through marketing tools helps reach those who aren't a part of the church but live in American culture. Also, the author pointed out that evangelism is hard to do without marketing Christ. We "make a pitch" to those we are looking to save, and hope they take the bate.

Overall, the cons outweighed the pros and I agree with what the author concluded: by "marketing" Christianity, we approve of letting "consumers" pick and choose what they want out of this religion, when in reality that is not what Christianity is about.

How do we present ourselves as Christians? I know I've been guilty, especially as a teenager, of marketing Christ to my friends and I know I've been a victim of it as well. What does this say about the lifestyle in which we live - the fact that we are so inundated with marketing ploys that we can't help but do the same in our evangelism?

Link to the article: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2009/january/10.20.html