This article really intrigued me. I discovered it on Church Marketing Sucks‘ website. A site that I follow to keep me up to date on marketing strategies for churches for my freelance company. Send me an email if your church or business needs help with marketing Pedro.

For all of the wisdom in the book of Proverbs, the word “marketing” is not found. Furthermore, a key word search through 18 different Bible translations returns just one finding with the word “marketing.” In The Message version, 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture.” While I am not going to insert or extract a certain theology from this one verse (not to mention one translation), it does make for some interesting arguments, especially given its context.

The bigger picture here is the word “marketing” and how it relates to today, given its non-existence in word-form (at least how we understand it now) centuries ago.

Ray L. Edwards does an interesting job attempting to argue 5 adcopy principles pulled right from the pages of the Bible. David T. Pope does an even better job at convincing people why churches should not be marketing themselves.

Arguments on both sides of the coin exist everywhere. Obviously, the issue of marketing the church is a hot one.

Perhaps for a moment you could take off your hat on either side of the conversation and face the reality that people need to be reached. There are people right now in your community that don’t know God. There are children without fathers, families without hope. How are you reaching them? How do they know your church exists, and what it exists for?

If you’re against creating a brochure or postcard, how about just walking the streets, talking to people? How about doing an event in the park? How about actually going to the people instead of waiting for them to come to you? The Bible has plenty to say about that.

And if you do decide to create some marketing materials, please don’t create stuff that sucks.

Originally Posted: Is Marketing in the Bible? By Brad Abare. Please leave your thoughts.

Suggested Reading:

Faith-Based Marketing

Bob Hutchins. Wiley 2009, Hardcover, 256 pages, $16.58

Brands of Faith

Mara Einstein. Routledge 2007, Paperback, 256 pages, $27.00

The Social Media Bible

Lon Safko. Wiley 2009, Paperback, 840 pages, $16.77

The Facebook Marketing Bible

Justin Smith. CreateSpace 2008, Paperback, 170 pages, $38.45

Matthew 5:42
Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

Deuteronomy 15:8
But you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

Psalm 15:5
He does not put out his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Proverbs 3:27-28
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,” when you have it with you.

Exodus 22:25
If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.

Leviticus 25:35-37
Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you. You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain.

Psalm 37:26
All day long he is gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20
You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.

Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.

Deuteronomy 24:10
When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge.

Psalm 37:26
All day long he is gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing.

Nehemiah 5: 1-13
Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers. For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.” There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.” Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.” Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words. I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them. I said to them, “We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say. Again I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury. Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.” Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise.

Suggested Reading:

YOUR MONEY MATTERS

Malcolm MacGregor. Bethany House Publishers 1977, Paperback, 176 pages, $3.99

Money, Purpose, Joy

Matt Bell. NavPress 2008, Paperback, 208 pages, $1.21

As a Christian, attending church is more than likely very important to you. For many Christians, when they graduate from college and enter the work force, they may have to relocate to another city. After relocating, they will be faced with the challenge of finding a new church. But what should one look for when trying to find just the right church? Here are a few pointers.

Is Christ the Head of This Church?

You might reply, “Isn’t he the head of most churches?” The answer is, “You’d be surprised.” When you go into a new church and attend a few services, it will become apparent who is the head of it. The services (and in some cases the pastor) will exalt the pastor. Did I say, “Pastor exalts the pastor?” That’s what I said. It happens. Jesus Christ should be the one exalted in a church.

Is the Church Provided with Financial Reports?

Okay, I’m being a little direct here but you will find that there are basically two types of churches. There are churches where they truly care about people and are honest and open with them and there are churches were there seems to be hidden society operating within them along with an inner circle. The latter is usually the type of church where funds from member donations are not getting used properly and they usually never have a financial report disclosed to the general membership.

Does the Church help to improve its Community?

A good church should be a lighthouse to the community around it. That does not mean that the church tries to be like the community around it but it should be an organization that does things for others. There are churches that run donation programs to the local homeless shelter or provide assistance for families hit by disaster. Remember that we are supposed to be the salt of the earth as described in this scripture here:

Mathew 5:13 (KJV) – Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Does the Church help in a Christian’s Growth?

Too often you will find churches that are focused on getting in new converts and do little to help those new converts grow once they are in. Then, when the new converts quit attendance after a short time, they are quickly forgotten about and the church moves on to find more new coverts. This ought not to be. There should be programs in a church to help believers grow and become stronger Christians.

Your choice of a church is a very important decision. Take the time to evaluate everything.

Suggested Reading:

Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You’ve Found

Kevin G. Harney. Zondervan 2003, Paperback, 160 pages, $0.01

If you are a believer and do not have a daily personal time when you study God’s word, pray, and meditate on what you read then you are robbing yourself of a close relationship with God.

Consider this verse in 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

You need to get to know your Bible because this is how God shares truths with you. But too often, there are excuses from Christians as to why they cannot have Bible devotions. And you should not have devotions just to “punch a ticket” either. But let’s look at some of the barriers to having regular personal devotions and a solution to each.

Barrier 1: I don’t have enough time.

This is a very valid reason for not having devotions and one we have to fight all the time. We don’t have enough time in our society today. I always recommend to the person without a lot of time to just pick one verse, read it, and meditate on it as you commute to work.

Barrier 2: The Bible can be boring sometimes.

If you are reading the genealogies or something equivalent to that you be certain it is boring. Reading the Bible completely is not always the best way to get the Christian involved in devotions. Use a daily devotional guide (there are free ones on the internet) with a commentary that has personal application. That way you can stay interested and engaged.

Barrier 3: I don’t understand the Bible.

You’ll hear people tell you to only use this version of the Bible or that version of the Bible. Use the version you understand. I like to use the King James Version only because of preference and nothing more. But if I need clarification on something I don’t hesitate to go to the NIV or some other translation where the wording is more contemporary.

Barrier 4: I don’t like to carry my Bible around or I haven’t bought a Bible yet.

The internet has great free online Bible sites where you can read the Bible anywhere you have a computer. Plus, many of these sites have multiple translations (like KJV and NIV) where you can have one centralized Bible study location.

The most important thing you can do is read a verse every day. And if you miss a day, don’t worry about it. Pick it up the next day.

Many business owners and entrepreneurs, like you, find that their business revolves around them and that it just would not be the same without them at the helm. True. As a start up business it is normally the owner of the business that does all the sales, marketing, project work, administration, finance and so on. The light soon comes on upstairs when they realize that they can’t do everything on their own and they need to employ staff or outsource to do the many jobs needed. After all if you were good at making widgets before you started your business and now focus on marketing or human resources more than making widgets – is this right? You went in to business because you were good at making widgets, and widgets you should make!

The only real way to succeed in business is to treat the business as if it is an entity in its own right – let it become a business that you are serving in rather than a business all about you! As a Christian I firmly believe in the Bible as the true Word of God and feel that acting in this way, giving the business over to God has led to our success in Creative Rush “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Prov 16:3 (NIV).

In doing this, handing the business over to the Lord, then not telling anyone – are we are hiding the answer from the world? If Christ can beat sin and death – a recession, credit crunch or downturn is relative small fry!

Keeping our life as Christians hidden from our business life it just not cricket! We should be seeking to build our business on biblical foundations just as we do for the rest our lives. Then in turn should we not live this out in the public domain, showing others how and why we do what we do?

Should we not display the fact that we have built our business, and continue to run our business, on the Word of God and act in many circumstances with faith more than human action or decision first?

In the fast-paced modern-world of business, it is especially important to realize that God’s Word should be, and remain, the cornerstone of your personal life and that of business. God’s Word gives all the insight into how we should run our businesses and with that comes wisdom. (Prov. 2:6).

Christians in business – ensure your life values and business values are entwined with each other and the practices of both mirror these values. Hand your business over today in your prayers and see that the ultimate provider and creator is near at hand.