This Little Church...."Market Driven Philosophy."
Excerpt taken from "This Little Church Went to Market."
"In order to market a church to unchurched Harry, Harry must be given what he wants. Since unsaved consumers do not desire God, or the things of God, they have to be enticed by something else. Thus the temptation arises for a church to change, or at least hide, who they are so that they appeal to Harry. Additionally, the church is tempted to alter its message to correspond with what Harry's wants to hear and thinks he needs. The end result is a felt-need gospel that appeals to Harry's fallen nature in an effort to entice him to come to Christ, the ultimate felt-need supplier, so that he is fulfilled and feels better about himself. But, "Can churches really hide their identity without losing their religious character? Can the church view people as consumers without inevitably forgetting that they are sinners? Can the church promote the gospel as a product and not forget that those who buy it must repent? Can the church market itself and not forget that it does not belong to itself but to Christ? Can the church pursue success in the marketplace and not lose its biblical faithfulness? I believe the answers to these questions are self-evident."
Sadly this has become a growing trend among many sincere bible believing churches. It is our duty as discerning Christians to make others aware of the dangers of compromising. In Christ -Dustin
"In order to market a church to unchurched Harry, Harry must be given what he wants. Since unsaved consumers do not desire God, or the things of God, they have to be enticed by something else. Thus the temptation arises for a church to change, or at least hide, who they are so that they appeal to Harry. Additionally, the church is tempted to alter its message to correspond with what Harry's wants to hear and thinks he needs. The end result is a felt-need gospel that appeals to Harry's fallen nature in an effort to entice him to come to Christ, the ultimate felt-need supplier, so that he is fulfilled and feels better about himself. But, "Can churches really hide their identity without losing their religious character? Can the church view people as consumers without inevitably forgetting that they are sinners? Can the church promote the gospel as a product and not forget that those who buy it must repent? Can the church market itself and not forget that it does not belong to itself but to Christ? Can the church pursue success in the marketplace and not lose its biblical faithfulness? I believe the answers to these questions are self-evident."
Sadly this has become a growing trend among many sincere bible believing churches. It is our duty as discerning Christians to make others aware of the dangers of compromising. In Christ -Dustin
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