I have been thinking a lot about the way we sell church-related goods and services.
I have been thinking about that and about Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers and sacrificial animal sellers in the temple.
The marketing inside the church has probably never been more feverish than it is today. Hollywood hires savvy Christian marketers to try to gin up interest in certain films among our demographic. We trademark little phrases for sale to Christians. I recently heard an acquaintance excitedly describe a system for integrating Prayer and Your Priorities. I shall not share the catchy name for this system so as to avoid smearing the person working on it. This results in a marketing platform for an inspirational book, a devotional, a daily planner for the system, calendars, sticky notes, etc. I imagine it will prove attractive for some Christian publishing house.
My question, though, is whether this is a wholesome thing for the church. As the author of a book, though not a super consumer-oriented one, I think about it all the time. For example, if called upon to preach at a local church, should I take along a box of books to sell at the end of the service? Should I even mention the book? Should I ask whoever introduces me to mention the book? Should we sell ANYTHING in the church?
The question is not as easy as it may appear. For example, the market instincts of new publishers spread Martin Luther’s work to a large audience. Without the printing press, Luther probably would have died as just another dissenter. Marketing and the honest profit motive are surely reasons why the Bible is as incredibly widely available as it is.
But the question remains. How far do we go in making a profit from the gospel of Jesus Christ? I don’t have a good answer. Love to hear from you in the comments.
November 21st, 2009 | 6:04 pm | #1
Retailing, marketing, promoting any product in a Lord’s day worship service is a misuse of that time. It is for the worship of our Lord, not the flogging of the next “great” thing or even the book of the one preaching. If a church wants to market those any other time, fine and dandy, but not on the Lord’s day.
November 21st, 2009 | 6:39 pm | #2
I’m inclined to agree with you, Jim.
November 21st, 2009 | 11:19 pm | #3
I agree with you that I get turned off whenever something smells like someone trying to make a profit off the gospel that was freely given to us all.
Whatever your opinion on Wayne Jacobsen, I do respect the way he has dealt with money and his ministry. Most of the books he’s written are also available as free pdf downloads on his Life Stream website. I listened to a podcast recently where he describe the letting go process of connecting his serving God with making a profit. He claims many things God calls him to do give no financial benefits, yet money comes in unplanned ways to enable him to continue the work he does.
Question to consider… Is selling a book at the back any different than a pastor preaching a sermon on tithing when funds are low?
November 23rd, 2009 | 3:25 pm | #4
In my opinion, this is a rather subjective question, depending upon what product we are marketing. If the worship band has recorded a CD or the pastor compiled a book from his recent sermon series through Ephesians this doesn’t strike me as equal to the moneychangers in the temple. There is no place in the church for Christian-schlock: the bumper stickers about an unmanned car at the rapture or not being perfect but forgiven, the ichthus keychains, or the Bible-verse t-shirts.
It is a question, not just of taste, but of what is valuable for the edification of the body. A worship CD recorded by a band of people I know and love can be very edifying; ditto a commentary written by a pastor I know and has inspired growth in my life through his preaching.
This could simply be a personal bias based on my ownexperience, but it strikes me that there is not a simple yes or no answer to this question.
November 23rd, 2009 | 11:30 pm | #5
Twice a year my wife sells children’s clothing at the local Methodists Church (We are not Methodists). The sale is organized by the church and is advertised on radio and the local television stations. We give 20% of all sales to the church and they take all non sale items and donate them to a charity of their choosing. We get to make a bit a cash for clothing that is setting in storage containers, the church gets money for organizing and hosting the sale, and the poor get access to a lot of high quality clothing that didn’t sell. No one really looses in this equation and a very large empty church gets a lot of foot traffic on a Thursday thru Saturday that it would not normally received. We are not talking about compulsory actions here and a lot of people benefit from theses activities.
Links
Blogs
Find Us
Contact