profnachos
08-02-2005, 11:02 PM
How churches "market" themselves has been on my mind a lot lately. They seem to have adopted strategies from secular marketing gurus and embellishing the truth is no longer a thing to raise an eyebrow over.
Of course, most intelligent consumers have learned to take what they see in commercials with a grain of salt. Nobody believes that drinking a specific brand of beer will attract a horde of gorgeous women.
Church brochures and websites are full of self-congratulatory remarks. For example, Grace Community Church pastored by John MacArthur has this (http://www.gracechurch.org/lem/pillars.asp?nc=1123044204294) to say:
What sets Grace Community Church apart from the current trends in Christianity is our unwavering commitment to biblical content.
We are (or were before we were abused) less likely to approach church advertisements with the same level of prudence and circumspection we practice in dealing with the secular world, and, if anything, are more likely take what churches say about themselves at face value. After all, they are Christians who aren't supposed to play fast and loose with truth.
So I joined the church with very high expectations after hearing glowing reports from people. What I was about to experience at Grace was to be nothing like what I had been exposed to before. My Christian faith was to be elevated to a whole new level, far distancing most churches in Southern California. It was going to be awesome. Well, we all know what high expectations do to people. My faith began to waver because I had been brainwashed to believe that I had seen the BEST of Christianity (much like what Hesed shared) and the church was, well to put it mildly, intensely mediocre .
What Jesus said to the church of Laodicea comes to my mind (scripture warning)
Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked
Sounds like Jesus got fed up with their self-congratulatory babble and essentially told them to STFU (excuse the language, but what Jesus told them sounds a lot harsher than that). It is interesting to note that while the other six churches got at least some positive reviews from Jesus, Laodicea only took the brunt of the anger of Jesus who had nothing nice to say about them.
Jesus seems to be truly offended by the church patting themselves on the back.
Again, just my humble observations....
Of course, most intelligent consumers have learned to take what they see in commercials with a grain of salt. Nobody believes that drinking a specific brand of beer will attract a horde of gorgeous women.
Church brochures and websites are full of self-congratulatory remarks. For example, Grace Community Church pastored by John MacArthur has this (http://www.gracechurch.org/lem/pillars.asp?nc=1123044204294) to say:
What sets Grace Community Church apart from the current trends in Christianity is our unwavering commitment to biblical content.
We are (or were before we were abused) less likely to approach church advertisements with the same level of prudence and circumspection we practice in dealing with the secular world, and, if anything, are more likely take what churches say about themselves at face value. After all, they are Christians who aren't supposed to play fast and loose with truth.
So I joined the church with very high expectations after hearing glowing reports from people. What I was about to experience at Grace was to be nothing like what I had been exposed to before. My Christian faith was to be elevated to a whole new level, far distancing most churches in Southern California. It was going to be awesome. Well, we all know what high expectations do to people. My faith began to waver because I had been brainwashed to believe that I had seen the BEST of Christianity (much like what Hesed shared) and the church was, well to put it mildly, intensely mediocre .
What Jesus said to the church of Laodicea comes to my mind (scripture warning)
Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked
Sounds like Jesus got fed up with their self-congratulatory babble and essentially told them to STFU (excuse the language, but what Jesus told them sounds a lot harsher than that). It is interesting to note that while the other six churches got at least some positive reviews from Jesus, Laodicea only took the brunt of the anger of Jesus who had nothing nice to say about them.
Jesus seems to be truly offended by the church patting themselves on the back.
Again, just my humble observations....