I have recently begun to browse the Web, billboards and church marquees to see what is being messaged by Christians.
The overriding thought that keeps coming back to me is: "is this Christian group/organization addressing the saved or the unsaved?"
It's very difficult to know who they're talking to.
What I'm finding is a blend of:
• prideful "look at us" proclamations, which appear to be aimed at other Christian organizations, cause they sure aren't a message to the unsaved
• humanistic self-help messages and jargon
• a faddish blend of mixing Christian concepts with "hip" cultural language
Look At Us Proclamations:
Along a path I frequently travel is a church. The church is on a major Interstate highway. There's the Interstate and the axis/frontage road parallel to it, and the church is on this road.
There is a main church building, and then off to one side is a second building.
On the side of the second building is a huge banner which reads "Reaching the Generations".
What does this mean to someone who is not a follower of Jesus?
I put myself in the mindset of someone who does not embrace the Way, and this slogan makes no sense.
If I'm an unbeliever (who does not care about reaching people or being reached) it makes me think "what 'generation' are they talking about? Am I in some 'generation' this church (Christianity) is referring to? Since I don't follow their way, is 'generation' just a nice word they use for 'outcast group'?"
When I put myself in the mindset of someone who does not follow Jesus, this vague "generation talk" does not make any sense at all.
And so, if this slogan does not appeal to those who aren't Followers, which it doesn't seem to, then the alternative would be it is being messaged to Followers.
If I'm a Follower of another Christian group in that town (and I know what "reaching" and what "generations" mean) and I take that slogan at face value, what is it saying?
Is it saying "look at what we're doing"? (in a prideful way)
Or is it communicating "we're doing what God says" in a "come join us, cause we're doing it right" way?
Or is it simply saying "we're doing what God wants us all to do, us and you, wherever it is that you attend. We're not trying to lure you from where you are, but just know and recognize we are doing what we are all called to do."
There's another church I pass, along a busy interstate in a metropolitan area, whose sign commonly has a verse on their marquee. Most recently the verse says "The Lord is my righteousness".
Again, I put on a "not a Follower" thinking cap, and ponder this message.
If I'm someone who doesn't care one way or the other about "holy" living, my thought is "so what"?
If I don't have a relationship with God, what do I care about pleasing Him or doing things that are "right" in His sight?
Think about it. Do any of us know Edgar Smith in ABCville, United States? If I don't know him, if we have no relationship, there is no effort in my life to embrace him or do things that appeal to or please him.
What does a non-Follower care about "righteousness"? That's a very subjective word, and on top of that it's Christianese.
Think about it. The evening news shows a lot of crap going on in the world. Does society speak of these things as "unrighteous"? No.
So, this marquee does not appear to really be messaged to those who do not follow Jesus. It references a vague, subjective word that is not used outside of Christian circles.
Humanistic Self-Help Messages and Jargon:
"Attitude is the crayon that colors our world"
I saw this on a church marquee a few weeks ago. Since I'm not of the cutesy, warm-fuzzy-Jesus part of the Body, this one just makes me roll my eyes.
Roll my eyes because I have no idea how that ties into the Way.
Whether I'm a follower of Jesus or not, is this church suggesting that if I will simply embrace a "new attitude" about the hate and dishonesty I struggle with that this somehow will change my life, or (better yet) impact my standing with God?
When my current idea of coloring my world is the thought of banging my secretary, what color crayon is that?
Last time I looked in a crayon box there was not one called "Flesh Colored with Purple Veins". So how does cutesy talk about "attitude" tie into the heart's struggle with lust?
Before you call the Acceptable Christian Verbiage Police, realize not all sin is dainty little stuff you try and talk "nice" about. There is some true ugliness and powerful battles with sin that don't fit inside the warm little Christian Bubble many Followers say is "acceptable" to discuss.
In saying that I was thinking back to the hardened, calcified rebellious heart stage of life. I was younger, in great shape, and spent a lot of time thinking about and being with women.
I had snubbed my nose at God, and was living for pleasure. That's a blunt thought of something that would have gone through my mind then.
It's the kind of thought that goes through some men's minds today. So hellbent on sin that's where your heart is, whether you've walked with God before or not.
I'm serious. What does all this self-help jargon honestly have to do with the genuine struggles within the heart, whether I'm seeking to follow Jesus (if I'm a Follower) or whether I'm simply thinking of it in terms of struggling with life (if I'm not a Follower)?
The truth is this fluffy babble is Polly Anna bullshit that does not relate to the realities of sin we face.
No wonder the Body is largely seen as unrelatable.
I've got a church near where I live whose marquee I think gets a direct feed from Tony Robbins' website. Self-help central, I'm telling you. I'm going to take a notepad and jot down a few of their gems.
Christian Jargon With Hip Cultural Language:
There's a billboard I frequently drive by which in huge captial letters says "IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM".
Then, underneath that, in smaller letters at the bottom, it says "It's all about Him! That's what it's all about...Jesus Christ, the Lord!"
Every time I drive by this billboard I think "I thought it was all about the Hokey Pokey."
(...you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about!...)
Again, when I put on a non-Follower thinking cap, I look at this sign and for some reason nothing but question marks appear.
Not in a curious way of "let me find out more about this mystery they speak of".
It's more along the lines of "what the hell? What is 'it'? Is that the same 'it' song lyrics speak of when they sing 'do it to me, baby'?
And what does 'Lord' mean? I went to a Renaissance Festival one time, and all the workers there called me 'Lord' all day long. Is that some kind of Medieval something? I thought this Jesus lived back before then."
I really don't think the Body ponders much of what it markets. It largely doesn't seem to truly address those not of the Way.
Rather, church advertising seems to be some hybrid of one part "we think we're messaging to the unsaved" (but are we really?), one part "look what we're doing", two parts Christianese and two parts self-help babble.
I'm going to be on the road some this weekend, on some highway I haven't trekked before. It will be interesting to see what other jewels are out there.
If the messaging is for those who aren't Followers, it's time to change what's going up on the marquees.
Relatable, not unrelatable. Real, not superficial or Christianese. Void of "look who we are". Void of scriptures that mean nothing to those not of the Way.
When's the last time a church marquee said "skeptics, haters and hurting welcome".
People are bruised and they have warts. How about reaching out to that?
1 comment:
I know what you mean. It would be one thing if all the signs sang together to present a beautiful harmonious sonata to woo the world to her Lover. But alas, no. I think you've captured several stanzas of the discord that is grating the nerves of so many. Most people prefer acid metal or silence to the song they're hearing.
The reason most of it is so annoying to me is because it is so self-centered. Whether is it the all out self-help or the "here's the scriptures WE think are most important and how WE read them", they all have that same off-key twang that I just can't stand. And I'm not alone.
You know, I don't know if Jesus is into marketing at all. Is constructing a better message really our way out of all this noise? I really can't see a road to redemption for all these signs. Your post made me think about Jesus' words, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden..." What is "the message of the light"? What is "the message of the city"? It seems to me they don't have one. They, like God, are self-evident. They don't market themselves. They don't construct "messages" so that people will _____________ (fill in the blank: join them, validate them, believe them, put up with them, respect them, etc.)
They just are.
I don't think Jesus marketed himself, either. He was like a light or like a city on a hill. We were reading a few weeks back in Mark 6 to discover that Jesus, rather than building a church, actually went into the markets, into the city streets where everybody naturally gathered. That's where he healed people and did good. Not in the houses of worship (except for a few times that were not, shall we say, well received).
Maybe if the church would, "in the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" then they wouldn't need the signs. Or the marketing.
But maybe that's part of the problem. When you're bankrupt of doing good from a sincere heart, a strong message makes a cheap alternative.
Post a Comment