Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Christian Marketing?!

Pete Wilson (familiar to many of you because of his wonderful book, Plan B, which I used as a basis for a sermon series earlier this spring) blogged this morning about a Tweet from Derek Webb (familiar to many of you because we used his song "T-Shirts" in a couple of worship services):
Derek: The word “christian,” when applied to anything other than a human being, is just a marketing term.
So Pete listed a bunch of stuff where we do just that:
  • Christian music.
  • Christian books.
  • Christian label.
  • Christian publishers.
  • Christian bookstore.
  • Christian greeting cards.
  • Christian dating service.
  • Christian radio.
  • Christian camps.
  • Christian clothing lines.
Derek's comment (esp. in light of the list Pete threw out there) is a bold & thought-provoking statement... and the thought it provoked from Kyle Reed (in the comments section of Pete's blog) is the must-read quote of the day:

To me it is a term that promises safety.

Which that is the marketing side of it all. You are safe when you buy this. You are safe when you read this. You are safe when you listen to this. Just go and listen to Christian radio. That is what they say every time. Safe for the whole family.

I think the problem is, there is nothing safe about Christianity.

Which begs the question - when have we traded in passion for the good news of Jesus Christ for safety & security from the big, bad World?

2 comments:

Dennis said...

I am enjoying a moment of pure serendipity as I discover your blog, the lyrics of Derek Webb, and more all from listening to the dice tower.

This is truly key to knowing what a Christ follower actually is. Jesus loves people. Jesus hates loveless religiosity.
Therefore Christians love people, and the world will know His disciples by their love.

Not that I do not really enjoy a witty T-shirt whenever I can.

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