God’s Goofy Marketing Strategies

24 05 2011

Tuesday Re-mix -

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. Luke 2:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  Isaiah 55:8

I will confess that, when it comes to my ministry, I have struggled over the years with the concept of “marketing”.   I was mostly comfortable leaving that up to God, Who took Five Principles of Unity all over the world and led us to publish it in four different languages in multiple countries without any kind of marketing plan whatsoever.  Still, I do understand that marketing is important.  It is why I have tried to surround myself with people who understand marketing much better than I.  I also must boast that I have come a long way in my own understanding of it, and how important it is that we take some responsibility for getting our message out there and for how we say it.  In fact, I would say that I have made some remarkable progress in terms of accepting “marketing and communications” as an everyday part of what I do…so much so, that I actually give a  little “marketing” advice now and again to others who are just getting started with ministries of their own.

God's Spokesperson

So you can imagine my dismay with how God chose to roll out the initial ad campaign announcing Jesus’ birth.  Let’s just say I would not have done it that way.

Again, I am no marketing expert.  But if I were responsible for getting that very important announcement out there with some hopes of it “going viral” over time (even before the internet), I am certain I would not have started with shepherds.  Neither would you.

Shepherds were guys who did not spend a great deal of time around people.  They were not educated, not articulate, and not terribly creative.  They fought wild animals (lions and tigers and bears, etc.).  Probably didn’t talk much.  They were not what you would call “social networkers”.  In that culture, if a shepherd came up to you and said anything to you at all it would be, well, weird.  But if he said anything meaningful to you about anything other than animals, you probably wouldn’t believe he knew what he was talking about.  He would have zero credibility.  Bottom line, when it comes time to choose a spokesperson for a message about the Savior of the world, shepherds would not even be on a marketing professional’s radar screen, let alone at the top of the list.

Moreover, the shepherds were scared speechless by the announcement.  Again, by conventional wisdom, “speechless” is not an endearing quality for a spokesperson (energizer bunny and a few others notwithstanding).  I honestly do not get it.

But, as always,  God’s choices did seem to work out pretty well even without my best advice.  I just would not have done it that way at all.

So, my recent delving into Luke 2 certainly took its toll on me and on my confidence in marketing strategies.  Not sure what I’ll be saying to my ministry board the next time we meet to discuss, among other things, marketing…and I had made such good progress up until now.  :)

© Blake Coffee
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on this website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Blake Coffee.  Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: © Blake Coffee. Website: churchwhisperer.com

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Categories : Church Communications, strategic planning

Church Government: The Negative Space in God’s Word

12 04 2011

Tuesday Re-mix -

In the world of visual art, the use of “negative space” is important.  In any sculpture or painting, the artwork sometimes says as much by areas is doesn’t cover as it does by actually covering.

You and I would call it the “blank space” on the canvass, i.e., the area where the artist chose not to paint.  That space becomes an integral part of the art itself.  In fact, some might claim that the negative space the artist creates in a particular work is what makes the work perfect.

I have come to believe that part of the perfection of scripture, i.e., the Word of God, is the “negative space” it creates within its pages…parts of the story intentionally not told or clarified, left out for reasons only God knows.

For example, wouldn’t you like more details from Jonah about exactly what happened inside that fish for three days?  If you were telling that story, wouldn’t you include that?  Or what about Paul’s fight with Barnabas, or his confrontation of Peter?  Don’t you think the details of those conflicts would be worth knowing?  Or what about a single instance of Matthew 18:15 (Jesus’ model for how to conduct church discipline) actually modeled for us somewhere?  Wouldn’t that be helpful?

For reasons only God understands, these and countless other “details” were omitted from the telling of His story.  But rest assured, He does have his reasons.  This “negative space” in scripture is a part of its perfection, it is critical in creating exactly the Word which God has preserved so perfectly throughout the centuries.  In any of these instances, a little more detail might seem harmless enough at first blush, but would ultimately take away from the Word God intended.

A perfect example is the New Testament’s lack of any definitive form of church government.  Jesus started a revolution in the form of the church, one which would change the world forever (indeed, one which would last forever).  But when the opportunity came, perhaps in Paul’s writings or from pastor James, scripture is remarkably vague on any particular governmental infrastructure.  It talks about elders and shepherds and deacons, it talks about Spiritual gifts such as evangelist, teacher, or preacher, but it never comes right out and says exactly how a church government should look.  Doesn’t that seem odd to you?  If you were going to start a revolution, wouldn’t you put some time and thought into how to structure your cells?  But again, for reasons only God knows, the minimal directions scripture gives us in this area are perfect.  They give plenty of room for a people’s culture to “breathe” into their church’s process for discerning the mind of God.

I suppose this is why I do not get too caught up in the debates over church governing structures.  Elder systems, deacon bodies, committee structures, pastor-led governments, presbyteries, Papal systems, synods…there seems to be plenty of room in scripture for a variety of different “structures” for a people to (together) discern the will of God.  And that’s what church governance is for…to discern the will of God, together.

So if there is a spiritual problem in your local church and you are having a hard time rightly discerning the will of God as a church body, don’t start addressing that spiritual problem with a man-made solution, like institutional governing structure.  Believe me, that is not likely to be the solution.  Rather, spiritual problems need spiritual solutions.  I would check your church’s corporate prayer life, or your church’s appreciation for God’s Word, or your people’s willingness to seek and to find Christ in one another.  Don’t pull out your constitution and by-laws for solutions.  Pull out your Bible.  You’ll find the answers there…both in the words and in the negative space.

© Blake Coffee

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on this website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Blake Coffee.  Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: © Blake Coffee. Website: churchwhisperer.com

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Categories : Acts 15, Church Law, Church Unity, conflict, Discerning God's Will Together, leadership, strategic planning

Casting a Vision for Unity

14 09 2010

Tuesday Re-mix -

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 29:18

I love Zechariah 8.  It is a beautiful picture of how God gives His people a vision of what is to come, so that they will be encouraged and motivated.

That is what God-given vision does for a church.  When a leader is able to hear from God and then paint a vivid picture of the future, i.e., a clear image of what could be, the people are suddenly much more capable of working toward that end.  The vision of the distant future (e.g., 5 years out) gives hope.  The vision of the intermediate future (e.g., next year) gives perseverance.  But it is the vision of the immediate future (e.g., next week) which motivates us to take our next step.  All three levels of vision are important for different reasons.

Casting vision for the immediate future (e.g., next week) is a little like the arrows on the bowling lanes.  It may feel intimidating to aim at something far away (like a 5-year plan for a church), but aiming at something nearby (like next week) seems do-able.  So, good vision-casting includes not only the encouragement of a picture several years down the road, but the motivation of a picture we can accomplish for next week.

Churches around the world are struggling with unity because they do not have a working vision of what true Biblical unity looks like in the church.  The New Testament is filled with those pictures but, for some reason, we have not always done a good job of putting those pictures in front of our people.  Churches often don’t really know what genuinely healthy relationships are supposed to look like.  Our people think that unity means not having any disagreements or being silent when something is wrong or not confronting a brother who needs some accountability in his life.  Our “pictures” of unity are, in so many cases, not the pictures God has given us through His Word.

I believe we can do a better job of casting that vision.  I believe we can tell the stories of the Bible in a way so as to present a clearer picture of what Christian relationships should be.  I also believe we can cast an immediate vision of what could happen next week in our relationships in order to advance them toward that greater vision.  I believe we can teach the very practical side of our life together as believers.  I believe we can grow healthy Christian community one week at a time with a little effort…o.k., maybe with a lot of effort.  I believe the church can learn these skills required “…to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We just need leaders who will strive to understand the vision of unity in the church and then paint that vision for us clearly.  Remember, In John 17 when He prayed for all future believers, Jesus could have prayed for anything…and He prayed for unity.  That is a vision worth casting for our people.

© Blake Coffee

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on this website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Blake Coffee.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: © Blake Coffee. Website: churchwhisperer.com


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Categories : 5 Principles of Unity, Church Unity, leadership, strategic planning

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