Our identity as Christians - Marketing the Whole Person
Today at my church (Grace Community Church in Gresham Oregon) our worship pastor Ben Sadler spoke on our identity as Christians and the concept of “living to die.” Gerry Breshears was teaching out at Hillsboro Community Church and Jay Messenger and his wife Jamie were sitting at the table next to me so apparently it was Ben’s time to share. He mentioned at one point the various components that make up the person: DNA, career, family, social environment, etc. and it got me thinking about how we market Jesus.
It’s become apparent to me that we market to only 1/4 or less of Christians. No, not a fourth of the people, but on quarter of the whole person. As Ben mentioned, a person’s identity can be defined not by one simple element but is made up of various facets around how they are related to their family, society, career, church, and so on. Just as no one element of our lives should dominate any of the others (church should not consume more of our time than family, friendships, etc.) we should conspire as church leaders to consider all facets of the whole person in our efforts to communicate to them. This seems a lot like the underlying concept behind what Mark Driscoll calls “Reformission.” That we become relevant in a persons life through connections to them other than just which building they sit in on Sunday. Instead, through relationship and connections outside the church we make ourselves relevant and credible to those who would hear our gospel message.
I find it amazing to think that so often and for so long as a church we’ve felt like we really do know the people we see on Sunday or Wednesday, or Men’s breakfast, or whatever. Seriously? Can we even presume for a moment to understand a person by the highly staged view of them we see at Church?
I recommend your next church marketing effort, be it a men’s ministry or your Easter Sunday program, should consider the whole person, not just a slice. This is especially true with respect to evangelical events like Easter. Don’t forget that you’re reaching out to a plumber, housewife, computer geek, or waitress; a mom, sister, uncle or niece; the poor, affluent, famous and unknown. There’s a lot more to the people we are reaching out to than the thees, thous, and therefores.
God bless you, and your missions to reach the lost.
