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The Call of Church Profits

by Phillip Ross  
7/28/2009 / Bible Studies


Paul did not preach with lofty speech or persuasive words of wisdom. The focus of Paul's preaching and testimony was not on the words he used, but on the content of the message he proclaimed. He wasn't trying to craft a good speech or a compelling testimony. He wasn't engaged in Classical rhetoric. He wasn't trying to win a debate, or to overpower the opposition. Nor was he trying to use a particular style of language in order to identify with his audience. He wasn't trying to move his hearers to an emotional or intellectual crisis that would result in new birth or conversion. The focus of his attention was not on his audience. Paul was not customer-centered or consumer-oriented.

Rather, Paul was God-centered and Christ-oriented. His focus was on the Lord, not on the Lord's people. His eyes were on the cross, not on the pew, nor on the pulpit. His intention was to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.

He made a decision before he came to them to speak to them of nothing but Christ crucified. While he was a well-educated man, a pharisee of pharisees, a Rabbi of Rabbis, an intellectual of intellectuals, a teacher of teachers, he would speak of nothing but Christ crucified. He would build his case, or champion the cause of Christ on the basis of Scripture alone. He would not call upon the wisdom or literature of the world to bolster his testimony of grace alone through Christ alone on the basis of Scripture alone.

As Christians, and as a church, we need to take our cues from Paul, from Scripture, and not from the world. We need to understand terms like faithfulness and success from a biblical perspective, and not apply ideas and/or programs of worldly success to the church.

Unfortunately, however, churches by and large have accepted and followed the ideas and values of the world for many decades. I'm speaking of the Church Growth Movement and its impact on denominations and local churches. The Church Growth Movement is transforming the Christian landscape through the development of large and mega churches. This fact is well-documented in current literature and media -- no church is exempt from its influence and impact.

Please understand that I am not against church growth. I do understand evangelism to be a central function of the church. Nor am I against the use of modern marketing and advertising technologies. But I am against using marketing and advertising technologies as the world uses them in the church. I am arguing for a more faithful and Christ-centered use of modern media. There is nothing wrong with modern media in and of itself. There is, however, a problem with using it to promote and encourage the values and aesthetics of sin in the name of Christianity.

Churches and denominations -- Christians -- need to heed and apply Paul's wisdom found here in Corinthians to the practice of evangelism, including and especially the use of modern media (marketing and advertising). We must not allow the wisdom of the world to determine the methodologies of the church. Do we do this? I believe that we do, that virtually all churches have been effected by the "success" of modern marketing and advertising practices.

I'm arguing here that such practices belong to what Paul calls the "wisdom of men" (1 Corinthians 2:5) and the "wisdom of the world" (Colossians 1:20). I'm arguing that it is the current popular understanding of evangelism and the methodologies engaged to reach the lost that have been hijacked by what the business world calls "marketing creep." Market-think has crept into the church and dominates our outreach efforts.

John Gage, Chief Researcher at Sun Microsystems Inc., warned software developers at the Global Grid Forum in Seattle in June, 2003, "everything we do gets hijacked by marketing." His observation has application to more than software development. It applies to virtually every aspect of business. Allow me to explain.

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." That sound advice has inspired entrepreneurs across the globe to make better products as the primary method of business success. The drive to make better products as the most effective avenue of business success is responsible for the development of modern technology, which has forever changed the way people think and live the world over. American entrepreneurs have led the way for centuries.

At the same time, modern marketing methods have also changed the nature of this formula for business success. How so? By changing the definition of the word "better." The original understanding of better meant that a better mousetrap would catch more mice, or catch them more efficiently, or more humanely, or whatever. Better indicated an improvement in product function. The emphasis was on the improvement of the mousetrap (or product) itself.

The new definition of better is not about the mousetrap, but about mousetrap sales. It's about mousetrap (or product) marketing. Business success no longer means building a better mousetrap. It means selling more mousetraps than your competitors, or increasing the profit margin on your mousetrap sales, which can be accomplished in several ways. Again, this shift is the result of "marketing creep."

Please be aware that there is nothing wrong with increased sales, nothing wrong with increased production efficiencies, nothing wrong with greater profits or increased revenues. But if there is nothing wrong with these things, then what am I talking about?

I'm talking about a shift in the purpose or goal of the business, which effects the purpose of the product produced. I'm talking about a change in the reason for building mousetraps (making particular products). The original purpose or goal of the business was to build and produce a better mousetrap. The purpose of the business was product oriented.

The new and improved purpose is to sell more mousetraps or to earn more money through the sale of mousetraps. The new purpose is not focused on the product, but on product sales. The new purpose is focused on sales and profits rather than on the function, design or usage of the mousetrap. It is a shift from being product-driven to being financially-driven. And again, there is nothing wrong with concern and control of finances. Any business that is not concerned about finances will fail.

The older purpose of the business was other-directed. It was focused on providing a social service, on identifying a need and producing something to meet that need. The new purpose of the business is self-directed. It is focused on company profitability. The new purpose is to make money for the business owners. Again, there is nothing wrong with making money.

But there is a problem associated with the new marketing-driven purpose, and that problem relates to integrity and the decrease in the quality of mousetraps when they are produced for sales as opposed to product function. The new emphasis eventually involves cutting production costs to increase profits, which involves less or cheaper materials and/or less time in production. To compensate for these measures a subtle kind of marketing deceit comes into play.

Phillip A. Ross founded http://www.Pilgrim-Platform.org in 1998, which documents the church's fall from historic Christianity. Demonstrating the Apostle Paul's opposition to worldly Christianity, he published an exposition First Corinthians in 2008. Ross's book, Arsy Varsy -- Reclaiming the Gospel i

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