Church Identity Crisis

Has church marketing gone too far?
For all of you out there who think your church logo is the coolest thing since the Nike swoosh, I beg you to put down that Seth Godin book for a moment and read on.
While it’s cool that church websites have evolved from purple backgrounds with gold fonts, that our Sunday morning slide shows are worthy of academy award nominations, and our Sunday morning bulletins are almost too cool to doodle on, have we  gone  too far?
Are we taking more pride in our church identity than we are with belonging to Christ?
Sometimes I think so, usually after attending faith based conferences when I'm snubbed by  a member of  church recently mentioned in Outreach magazine.
It’s no longer enough to be a Christian. One has to be a PoMo Christian. A member of Mega Church or the First United Church of Starbucks. Or attend a church where the pastor sports a soul patch and trendy  frames (even though his vision is 20/20).  We are proud to be labeled a Christian as long as we’re not mistaken for someone who meets at church down the street with the marquee sign  teens vandalize.
While church marketing is important—it is a different animal than consumer marketing. I’ve learned a few advertising tricks over years, mostly on how to dial up the interest of parity products. Bland bran flakes need a cool identity to make up for lack of taste. But  God? I think not. We need His help, not the other way around.
The moral of this post? If our ministry marketing efforts boomerangs attention to the Photoshop wiz in our church’s communication department instead of the Big Guy in the Sky, we’ve missed our mark. It’s not about us, it’s about Him.

Comments

[Amy]

I am soooooooo sick of Seth Goodin.

Good post, as always!

[Tony Myles]

I liked the layout of this post. Good use of the swoosh.

(tongue in cheek comment intended)