Book Review – “Selling Out the Church”

October 19, 2007

Selling Out the Church: The Dangers of Church Marketing by Philip D. Kenneson & James L. Street

It’s tough to argue with success, especially the kind of success that countless churches across America have experienced as they have adopted deliberate marketing strategies and then seen their attendance grow into the thousands. For much of evangelical Christianity in America, church marketing is becoming more and more of a standard practice grounded in a very pragmatic ideal, “If it works, why not do it?” Phillip Kenneson and James Street have written Selling Out the Church: The Dangers of Church Marketing, with a bigger question in mind, however. They ask, “Can the market-driven church remain Christ’s church?”

One may argue that Kenneson and Street face a danger of their own in writing such a book, the danger of theological nit-picking. Sometimes, critiques of enormously successful ventures are driven by something other than sincerity. But it seems that the authors have guarded against this danger by offering a sincere, thoughtful, and gracious book that ultimately demands a serious re-thinking of the church marketing movement.

In asking questions about the nature of church marketing Kenneson and Street have looked beyond marketing practices (slogans, image, advertising, market research, etc.) to marketing philosophy. Ultimately they convincingly argue that the philosophy that drives church marketing is often times directly contrary to the very nature of the church. A couple of examples are worth noting.

First, the authors point out that marketing philosophy is predominantly driven by the idea of “exchange.” This exchange is, in essence, two parties giving something of value to one another to satisfy felt needs. Church marketers would see the exchange play out like this: We give you the gospel, you give us your attendance; We give you programs, you give us your money; We give you new friendships, you give us your time.

Kenneson and Street argue that this “exchange” philosophy destroys the idea of “gift” that is central to Scripture. God, after all, does not need anything from his creatures. This is why we speak of the gospel, eternal life, and even faith as being gifts from God, not transactions or exchanges between God and man. In light of Romans 6:20-23 the authors argue that an exchange does take place when someone becomes a Christian, but it is not the exchange that church marketers have in mind. They write:

What Christians have exchanged, then, is one master for another. One master’s gift was the gift of death; the other master’s gift was the gift of eternal life. We have, by God’s grace, been placed in a position to receive God’s free gift; we have not exchanged something for it in the economic sense.

A second example, and perhaps the most damaging argument deals with the role of “felt needs” in church marketing philosophy. Church marketers primarily work to address felt needs. Many of these felt needs seem innocent enough, such as a need to fit in, or feel encouraged, or to learn how to “rise above it all.” But Kenneson and Street comment:

The heavy emphasis on felt needs all but drowns out the central teaching that the Christian life calls for a radical transformation and reorientation of one’s whole way of thinking and behaving. Instead of assuming that membership in the Body of Christ entails far-reaching claims on our lives, church marketers assume that, at least in principle, the church can be made relevant and desirable to almost anyone if we simply know how to market it effectively. But what if one must be given eyes to see the “relevance” of the church? What if the “point” of the church is not accessible by means of human wisdom?

They later comment, “Central to the gospel is the news that God has graciously provided something that humanity didn’t even know it needed.”

Although this book is relatively brief, their critique of church marketing is far reaching, challenging the very philosophy upon which church marketers build their case, and reminding the reader of the biblical standard for what the church is called to be. As a pastor I know the pressures to adopt a church marketing mindset can be quite strong. If it’s succesful in getting people through the doors, why not do it? Thankfully, what Kenneson and Street remind us is that our very method of “doing church” is inextricably linked to the gospel message we proclaim. A less-than-biblical method will indeed lead to a less-than-biblical gospel. The apostle Paul says that “the word of the cross if folly…” (1 Cor. 1:18). Can the folly of the cross really be transformed into a marketable, attractive product without distorting its very essence?

POSTSCRIPT:

Interestingly, I recently read a blog post at “Out of Ur” that describes a fundamental change in philosophy at Willow Creek, one of the nations largest and most heavily marketed churches. Essentially, after a thorough in-house study they discovered that much of the philosophy that drives how their church is run was simply not working.

Greg Hawkins, an executive pastor at Willow Creek, speaking about Willow Creek’s long-standing ministry philosophy said, “Participation is a big deal. We believe the more people participating in these sets of activities, with higher levels of frequency, it will produce disciples of Christ…. I know it might sound crazy but that’s how we do it in churches. We measure levels of participation.” What Willow Creek found after their multi-year study was that “increasing levels of participation in these sets of activities does NOT predict whether someone’s becoming more of a disciple of Christ. It does NOT predict whether they love God more or they love people more.”

The significance of Willow Creek’s finding cannot be underestimated. Kenneson and Street point out that the primary means of measuring success under the church marketing model is through participation and attendance. They write:

Barna insists that a church evaluate its effectiveness by polling its consumers regarding customer satisfaction. Yet such a process is dangerously circular, for in the marketing done by service industries (which Barna takes the church to be) there is no standard of effectiveness other than customer satisfaction (which presumably is measurable, at least in part, by attendance). In other words, to be an effective market-driven church is nothing other than to keep your consumers happy (and, therefore, present).

Apparently, Willow Creek has discovered that although they may have been wildly successful at keeping their thousands of participants happy and involved, they have not been wildly successful in what ultimately matters, making true disciples of Christ.

Maybe arguing with success is not that tough after all.

 

Posted by Aaron | Filed Under Blog 

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