Comments on: Jesus as a Product

By: Joe Woolworth

Joe Woolworth — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:46:50 +0000

Great post. But maybe Jesus is more like a brand than a product. We are His ad campaign (christians) and our “marketing” either damages or strengthens the brand in the eyes of potential consumers.

Loved the post.

Check out my blog http://marketingjesus.net
I love these ideas and write about similar stuff.

By: BAM

BAM — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 17:52:31 +0000

I am reminded of a conversation I had with a pastor one time at a camp out in the woods. I said, if I owned a business that God led me to open, I wouldn’t even lock the doors b/c I would trust that he would protect the place.

On our way to the cabins, it was dark. He said, why don’t we walk in the darkness and trust that God will safely get us to the cabin. I said, because that would be stupid and I have a flashlight right here!

God gives us tools, we should use them.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:28:52 +0000

@Cameron says “there are many children growing up now who have never heard of Jesus.” – Then we need to tell them about rather than market HIM.

Semantics can certainly get in the way in a discussion like this as in does marketing=communication as previously stated? I think communication in the Biblical sense is building relationships and sharing whereas marketing can often be impersonal such as a billboard or ad.

One of my issues with “marketing” Jesus is that it can give the impressing we can “sell” HIM which as I stated earlier is NEVER the case. He is the one who chooses us.

By: Simon G

Simon G — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:24:42 +0000

Marketing and advertising moves from the amoral to the immoral when it offers something the vendor is unable to deliver. Before even considering marketing Jesus we need to scope out what his body (yes thats us) are able to offer. It seems to me we are a long way from delivering love for our neighbors in the way people who have encountered Jesus expect.

If we are going to look at the church from a product orientated perspective (I’m not convinced myself) then we need to sort out the basics of delivery of the product before we even consider marketing it. When we can deliver Jesus with loving action to feed and clothe the poor, free the oppressed across the whole constitutency of people we are going to market to then we can start talking marketing.

I wonder if anyone has explored using marketing to give a more honest picture of what church is really like – full of sinners, frequently wrong, but walking in the power of Jesus toward Jesus. Countering the holier than you impression which people outside the church seem to receive whether we like it or not.

By: audiomodder

audiomodder — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:29:58 +0000

This concept is straight out of a completely Western mindset. The idea of Jesus as a commodity that can be marketed, while it might seem appealing to many of us, is exactly why Christianity gets absolutely no respect from younger generations. It treats the church as a “pay what you want to”shop and breeds a false conversion. It makes “Jesus changed my life” in the same league as “The iPhone changed my life”. More secular business fecal matter seeping into the thought process of the church.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:58:38 +0000

Agreeing with Brett and Scott. It’s just communication and that’s loving God and others. Marketing is just a word. If it sounds manipulative etc to you, that’s okay. Just communicate the love of God to others in a way that’s relevant to the person in front of you. Much of our problems today stem from poor communication/ marketing of Jesus throughout history….which essentially means that we, as his hands and feet, have not communicated his message of love, grace, mercy and forgiveness to others. Perhaps if we considered ourselves as advertising agents, we might see how we are lucky that we haven’t been fired!

By: Scott Smith

Scott Smith — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:37:53 +0000

Right on, Brett.

Paul said “I have become all things to all people”. He spoke philosophy with the Greeks, logic with the Romans, faith with the Jews. It’s all marketing! Same great “product” – different audiences.

This is not a message about cheapening Jesus or salvation. Marketing is not ultimately about the product – it is about the audience. We need to understand who we are trying to reach in order to gain their attention.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:26:33 +0000

@Cameron I suppose it depends on the view of Western culture. At it’s broadest scope, I think you’re correct, so I retract my original statement. However, in America and Britain, I do think everyone has or will hear about Jesus at some point.

By: Holly

Holly — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:52:59 +0000

I’m pretty sure Jesus would have failed his marketing 101 class final project. His pitch was to spend time with 12 people, tell them to love each other, and then promise that the WHOLE WORLD would KNOW!

He gets all the credit for being right! And He didn’t even have the help of a Facebook Fan Page.

The world will have a much better understanding of this revolutionary marketing concept in eternity when they realize that they KNEW all along but still opted for Brand X.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sun, 23 May 2010 23:30:24 +0000

@jesse “Everybody in Western culture has heard of Jesus. They already have a preconceived notion of the product.” — this is no longer true, there are many children growing up now who have never heard of Jesus.