“trickery”
I wanted to share a piece of feedback that we received on our SatanHatesLife.com campaign that we started a couple of weeks ago. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you can read my earlier post. Here is the feedback (name removed):
“I am a youth director in the local area and I think that your billboard advertisements are not a christian message. They trick some people to coming to your web site. They dont present truth and that is the cornerstone of the christian faith. trickery is a tool of the devil and christians should be held to a higher standard. You may have ment well but the advertisements might actually put up walls between people and God rather than break them down.”
Now, I do find it amusing that he might have been “tricked” into thinking Satan actually put up the billboards and consequently was tricked into going to the website, but his comment does raise an interesting church marketing question. Should churches use “trickery” of any sort to grab peoples attention or is the church an institution of trust that should not use those types of marketing techniques?
Visit 
I think it goes back to a previous post by Craig that is summed up by, “We cannot demand people’s attention, we must attract it.” Lifechurch.tv always says it will do anything short of sin to lead people to Christ. That being said, I do not think the billboards are sinful as it is obvious Satan didn’t actually write them.
Also, the humor appeals to a very wide range of people (”…I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22b)
I think there is a fine line between clever “marketing” and and “trickery.” I think probably most people reading the billboards are automatically going to know that they were produced by lifechurch.tv. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure that one out. So in this particular issue I don’t think there is any “trickery.”
I do however think that there are many churches that need to reevaluate some of their material because whether they no it or not they are “tricking” people and pulling a bait and switch. Many church websites features photos of laid back, multi-racial, young crowds but when you get to the church its a bunch of white guys in suits. This has turned off several people I know of to churches and God as a whole, because they felt a very two faced approach to the presentation of what the church was. This to me is a bigger problem than a red billboard, supposedly sponsored by Satan.
I think it’s a good original idea, I didn’t feel “tricked” when I saw a picture of your billboard on CMS’s website. I found it interesting and I wanted to know what it was all about. I don’t think that it’s “Trickery” at all. Oh wait!, have I just been tricked into thinking it’s not trickery?
Most churches ‘trick’ people into thinking they will get a clear and compelling presentation of the God of the universe. What people ultimately get however is a half-hearted and very legalistic man-made code of conduct disguised as the house of the Living God.
This guy’s comment is silly. I’d like to ask him what he’s doing to reach the lost of his city.
Doesn’t the Bible say something about being “wise as serpents” , yet still “harmless as doves”?
Trickery is one thing. Adaptation and wisdom is another.
Aaron
interesting question. I’ve been accused of using a bait and switch tactic in advertising “yourgreatsexlife.com” and using sex as a way to teach the gospel to people that normally don’t go to church.
i kind of think of it as getting people’s attention. i think Jesus did that with the whole water to wine thing and walking on water. He didn’t need to do that stuff to prove that He was the Son of God. But it surely got people’s attention.
The classic “bait and switch” model of ministry is something that I believe Jesus would have never done. He wouldn’t have ever “tricked” people into hearing the Gospel. He would meet their needs. I don’t think there is a problem with the Satanhateslife.com billboards, but i do believe that churches - in some cases - over market the Gospel. If left to itself, the Gospel could/will stand alone, regardless of culture/oppression/etc.
Keep up the good work!
I’ve noticed that the lie the enemy uses in the third world is: “I’m here and I’m all powerful.� the lie he tells Americans is: “I don’t exist at all.� I think a forgotten reality is brought into sharp relief by your ads.
I’m not sure what about that is misleading.
Personally, I breathed a sigh of delighted relief when I saw a big church putting a lot of time, effort and money into an add campaign that was NOT politically correct.
just my thoughts.
g
I find that comment actually kind of silly. Anyone who decides to go to one of the billboard websites does so of their own free will and can leave anytime the would like with one simple click. They don’t have to read a single word of it unless they choose to.
This comment brings up another question, who determines the difference between trickery and evangilism? Slipery slope if you ask me.
I just think too many Christians base their decision to criticize other Christians on how they feel about something, instead of whether that something goes against the Word of God.
I can’t imagine the amount of criticism you guys must have endured over this. I wrote a post defending Lifechurch and this series on my own blog and was hammered.
I apprecatiate Lifechurch’s willingness to go where others won’t if it will reach lost people so keep it up.
Just my humble opinion for what it’s worth.
I think that when it comes to getting nonbelievers to church, trickery almost always has to be used, even if it’s to a small extent. I don’t hear many people inviting their friends to church by saying, “Hey, you should come to church with me this weekend. You’ll learn about God and experience Jesus in an awesome way.” Unless they’re doing some soul searching, a line like that would likely turn them off to the idea. But if one were to say, “You should check out church with me this weekend. They’ve got free coffee and donuts!” then there’s a good chance you would grab their attention more effectively than with the previous statement.
If you use the coffee line or something similar, you’re still tricking them to an extent by baiting them with coffee and donuts. It’s not dishonesty, but at the same time it fails to mention that the focus and of the experience is Christ and bringing people to him.
This all depends on one’s definition of trickery, though. Some may think that trickery requires lying or stretching the truth, while others may believe it can be accomplished by merely stating things a different way or focusing on different components of an item.
So is satire not a “Christian” way of commenting on a topic? I don’t think anyone literally thought satan had commissioned an advertising agency to put up billboards, so what exactly is the trickery he’s referring to? I don’t get it.
I see what you did not as trickery, but as more of a way of breaking a pattern, which I think is very important in church marketing.
I do think, however, that we should learn to separate trickery from a teaser message. Trickery is about gimmicks, which people can spot quickly. A teaser is a positive message that stimulates interets and uncommon suprise, which is a powerful tool in communicating.
http://ethoughts.tv
I think that the Pharisee’s probably thought that Jesus was using Trickery when he spoke in parables when spending time with the prostitutes, Tax collectors and the woman at the well. People dont like it when we use innovative ways to reach a fast moving generation….but didnt Jesus do that too? What do you think?
Jordan
Well now, that is a loaded post. I don’t think that “trickery” in this sense is bad. To me, it is a creative and funny way to get people to visit and open up to church, God’s redemptive vehicle for the earth. You could have a billboard that says, “LifeChurch.tv uses trickery” - Satan …although, I think that would put up some walls and do some tearing down.
Personally I would care less what this guy thinks … Has the billboard campaign been beneficial in putting butts in seats to hear the gospel or is it to early to tell?
It was two weeks ago when Mr. Youssef Nathan, from the Holy Bible Society of Egypt (www.bsoe.org) came over to Boston to speak to our congregation (www.ArabicChurch.org) about Paul.
I was amzed at what Paul did. He would use several pieces of poetry from his current time, pieces that were well known by his well-educated audience, and use portions of it and the other portion he’d actually make up, still making it rhyme as before, yet with a completely different resulting message.
Paul used all possible poetic, philosophic, and academic “trickery” (if you want to call it that, although I would not use this word), to 1) intrigue his audience, 2) deliver the truth, and 3) allow God’s Spirit to then work at converting their hearts.
Study Paul, and see what God teaches you in how we should use our current (21st century) resources, and our abilities, all of it, to get to those that otherwise would not be reached using older methods.
God Bless.
TZ
Tally…nice.
Robert…interesting perspective on marketing with diversity. I have heard several pastors talk about the importance of looking more diverse in an effort to draw more diversity. I have also seen the “manufactured diversity” that seem hollow. I’m curious what the rest of you think about that.
Adam…what are some examples of where you feel that the church has “over marketed” the Gospel?
All of you…no more LifeChurch.tv accolades! I want more disagreement and constructive criticism! If you can’t say something mean…don’t say anything at all. It makes me feel icky.
Jack,
too early to tell. I don’t think it kept anyone from leaving for spring break this past weekend
I once new a pastor that put an add in the local paper that he would identify the bra size of the Bride of Christ that next Sunday. I’m not sure if it was trickery or just a dumb idea. People settled on dumb idea…since we, the church, are the bride of Christ, the regulars stayed away because they were embarrassed they would be met with a tape measure at the front door instead of a bulletin. Everyone else just thought it was the dumbest thing they ever heard and ignored it. The average person can tell when they have been had or lied to and when something is meant to be funny and inspire more interest and investigation. There is nothing wrong with and everything right with being savvy in church marketing. I think the reason why some don’t get marketing is because they fail to realize the potential it has to tell the story of Christ to a greater audience. Jesus preformed miracles and some said, “it was trickery.” Jesus told people he was the Son of God and some said, “it was lying.” I think Satan laughs at people everyday when someone is scammed into believing one of his tricky schemes…it’s time we had a laugh on him as more people become followers of Christ because of a creative and smart marketing idea. Keep brainstorming, Bobby!
Hi, all,
A friend of mine sent me the link to this post after I posted on the same topic on my blog. While I believe that church marketing definitely has its place, and is important, my point was that I am concerned that too many churches are focusing more on marketing to bring people in rather than equipping their members to go out to where the hurting people are. While everything Jesus did certainly attracted attention (which is not a bad thing at all), most of His ministry seemed to be outreach and relationally driven.
I have only been a Christ-follower for four years, and it was not a church’s ad campaign or message series that brought me to Him, it was a wonderful Godly woman who reached out to a cynical jerk in need.
That being said, if one person accepted Christ as a result of the billboard campaign, I think it was well worth it. My $.02.
Before I began attending lifechurch.tv 2 years ago, I had spent the first 23 years of my life in a southern baptist church and going to the BSU at the university I graduated from. Throughout those years God did many amazing things in my life. However, as I studied graphic design in college I came to the realization that the importance of image and clever marketing, in all of the churches I had ever seen or attended, was lacking greatly. It also seemed synonymous that these churches lacked relevant ministries towards my generation.
When I visited lifechurch.tv for the first time my eyes were completely opened to a ministry that had finally got it right. A church who wasnt afraid to bring a relevant message in a relevant way. A church who wasnt afraid to have modern graphics and marketing, modern looking building,, with modern rooms, modern lighting effects, modern and loud music, and viewing a message as though it was a cinematic experience. A church who wasnt afraid to spend the money to present EVERYTHING in a relevant way and to have a “HIP” image.
The key point I am trying to present is this: In this day and age IMAGE is important. As an entity, one of the most important things.
In graphic design, a term we use a lot is clever. And in marketing to stay on top of things, to catch peoples attention, and to, for example, grab more attention than just your ordinary billboard driving down the road, you HAVE to be clever.
The LC billboards to me are a parody of the widely seen God Speaks billboards. The God Speaks billboards say stuff like, “‘Keep using my name in vain, Ill make rush hour longer’ - God” and “‘What part of ‘Thou Shalt Not’ do you not understand’ - God”. Now to be honest and maybe a little bit blunt, I find these billboards to be extremely cliché. The approach, the attitude, everything about these billboard are “cookie cutter”. But to launch a billboard series that assumes the role of Satan launching a marketing campaign against lifechurch.tv I find refreshingly funny. And I believe that a lot of people find it refreshing that a church is using this kind of marketing scheme to advertise. And I think that is why it is successful, because you have people out there in the world that are tired of being “preached at” and “bible bashed”, but when my friends who have never been to lifechurch come for the first time, and hear a mainstream song when they walk in that they actually listen to, and see multimedia that is “cool”, and hear messages that they can connect with and apply to their lives, they come out saying things like, “Wow, I never thought church could be cool. I never thought I would ENJOY church this much.”
To sum things up, churches should use marketing that is relevant to who their audience is. In this case lc’s biggest concern is for the audience who needs God the most: those who dont know Him and those who are far away from Him. And to use clever marketing to make sure people understand that lc is not a “churchy” place but a “relevant” place, is hitting the hammer right on the head of the nail.
Listen to your heart, Bobby. It will tell you the answer to the question.
Agape,
steve
My only main critisism is that I didn’t think about it first.
For me it is hard to critize something that is so innovative. I don’t think their was anything that was tricky about it per sae.
Maybe you shouldn’t have used that shade of red.
Or hmmm let me think real hard.
I think the word sucks should not have been used cause you know it is kind of foul language and you might offend all the church people. God forbid they are offended. Come on.
Off-topic. I just wanted to say that I like your new “look.” It is more inviting and appealing. Good choice!
I think that there is a difference between creative advertising and “bate and switch”. There is also a difference between directing someone to a website and getting someone to come to an event thinking it is something that it is not. Once someone gets to the website they will figure out that this is all about church before they ever go to an actual building.
I saw your billboards on churchrelevance.com and thought it was brilliant! I know that the complaint came out of wanting to be sensitive to the non-church goer but I think that you are really paving the way for creative church advertising.
My church actually decided to go with a very casual approach to advertising our Easter service believing that the people we wanted to come to our Easter service weren’t looking for a gimmick or cheesy theme. Most non-believers who are going to come to church on easter are just looking for a warm welcoming church, hopefully one that doesn’t make them feel bad about them selves when they leave. Our catchy phrase for this Easter’s advertisements is, “Easter at Grace Chapel”. We used a really simple design that was warm and attractive. We will have to wait a couple of weeks to see how well it works as a tool for getting people to come!
I love your blog by the way! Thanks for posting stuff like this.
Roger,
Thanks…we’ve been wanting to change the look since the day before we launched the blog
We still have a few odds and ends to clean-up, but hopefully it will be much more readable now.
I think it’s pretty truthful that Satan hates Lifechurch.tv, so I’m not sure why this man thought the message of the billboards does not present the truth. And I’d want to know more of why he feels the ads would put up a wall between people and God. Especially if you read the copy on the website, I’m not sure how you would come to that conclusion. I think that some people put God in a little box and make it all about rules of how “Christians” should act. If anything, I think that puts up more of a wall and misrepresents the message of Jesus.
Im not a big fan of the billboards. i dont know why anyone would want to speak for Satan. In Jude, Michael the archangel did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” i dont think its funny or cute or good advertising to speak for Satan.
Todd, I want to ask you a question and please understand I’m not attacking at all. You said “I am concerned that too many churches are focusing more on marketing to bring people in rather than equipping their members to go out to where the hurting people are.”
I just have to ask, what are you basing that statement on? The church I serve in, Bay Area Fellowship, is very much like Lifechurch and and while we are doing everything we can to reach the lost, much of it considered contraversial like the Satan Sex Ed series, we also have almsot 200 small groups that are making a huge impact on our community and in the lives of the attenders. We have planted four churches in the US, and 18 in India, and started our first video venue a year ago in a community 45 minutes from our church, with plans for ten more at least. I only say this because I bet if you look at what Lifechurch is doing you’ll find a bunch of stuff just like that. They have eleven campuses last time I checked that are reaching people and changing lives. I happen to know an awful lot of pastors in churches like BAf and Lifechurch that focus on the lost, and they’re doing the same things.
The problem is that all you ever hear about is the outreach side of churches like these because some find it controversial. The building disciples part sadly isn’t talked about as much, but I promise you it’s happening.
Not an attack just wanted you to know that there is a lot more going on in these churches than you might suspect. I do hear your heart though because I know a lot of people who came to our church through people so that is important too. Just something to think about.
Nicky, you took the words right out of my mouth when you said “I think it’s pretty truthful that Satan hates Lifechurch.tv” we all know that satan’s goal is to destroy, kill and “take out” as many people as he can and ultimately separate people eternally from our Heavenly Father.
I hate to sound like I’m on the bandwagon, but I am. I don’t see these billboards as “trickery” though satan may whisper to people “watch out, you’re being tricked”. I see them as a way to plant a seed in someone’s mind, maybe they’ll check out the website, maybe they’ll check out lifechurch.tv for themselves, maybe they’ll check out a church in their own neighborhood. To my knowlege LifeChurch has never been about the numbers (just building attendance) the goal is “Leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ”.
We have to remember, the building/campus we sit in during a message series ISN’T the church, WE (individual people) are the church and we have to be effective.
I think it is fantastic, I wish i thought of it first. I does make you stop and think. Maybe for your next campaign you can use quotes from this youth pastor and his ilk and call it christianshatelife.com. That would be “very tricky.” LOL
Do the means justify the ends is really the question here. I don’t believe that these billboards are trickery, I think they’re clever. But if they were …
The church has to walk the talk. It’s a thin line to walk between being clever and using trickery. Which side of that line you fall on is going to be different to each and every person but as church leaders you have to constantly keep that in the back of your mind and try to fall on the right side.
Bobby…
I think there is a huge difference in marketing to get a younger more diverse audience and just packing your websites and material with complete misrepresentation of the church. Our local church is trying to attract a younger audience, and my instruction to the senior pastor was to change the look for all materials produced, no more clip art, no more lame wordart graphics. We’ve stepped up the design to look sharper, more intentional in design. We’ve relaxed the look of the staff on stage, and we’re being intentional with our outreaches to our local colleges ect. But at no point are we going to put a misleading photo on our stuff. I think you can successfully market to a younger more diverse audience without misrep.
brandon…thank you! that makes me feel better that someone on here thinks they are bad idea.
Sam…great idea! I have registered the name…we’ll see.
Bobby,
Thanks for starting this discussion. Seeing stuff like this confirms what I’ve observed to be true with the leaders of LifeChurch.tv: Their ways may be unconventional, but they certainly take their responsibility to Christ seriously. And I would argue that they likely take their responsibility more seriously than people who criticize other Christians based on their own standards instead of God’s.
What’s most interesting to me is how opposite my reaction was to that of your complainer. I was driving to work when I passed the billboard that says “Boycott LifeChurch.tv.” The first thought I had was that the LifeChurch.tv hater guy with his blog got some money and put up billboards. Then I saw the quote was attributed to Satan and I saw the web address. It made me laugh all the way to work!
I’ve related this story to friends, and every one of them saw the humor in it, even those who have been critical of LifeChurch.tv.
So keep up the good work. Keep questioning your own motives and actions. Keep getting your answers from God’s word, not just God’s people!
Bobby,
You know what’s weird… I sense a lot of desire to be totally transparent in your blog, wanting to use it as a means of capturing feedback, etc.. that’s cool..
I just want to warn you of taking it to the extreme..
Sounds like you’re only looking for criticism, and only want to hear from those that think this is a bad idea (trickery or others).. just don’t take it too far.. it’s ok to accept positive feedback as well.. it doesn’t make your blog less transparent.
Bobby - I personally love the “lifechurch.tv sucks” billboard - but I think the “I got robbed at lifechurch.tv” doesnt make any sense if you are are a non-believer/non church attender. It made my mind jump immediately to money (i.e. the church is after my money - and sort of reinforces that idea - maybe I just dont get it) I *think* I know what the intent was - but from a non-church goer perspective im not sure that particular one would hit the target as well as the others. IF the billboard campaign appeared in a city where the “God” billboards appear - the parody is obvious - and funny - and good. If it just showed up in a city like mine - people would be like WTF?
As always - the church critics would react negatively.
Is this trickery? Was feeding the 5000 trickery? Was telling creative stories trickery? The pharisees sure thought so. Keep on doing it.
OH - I dont like the new blog. This one is too vanilla. Can I have your old templates?
TZ,
Thank you for the feedback. I understand completely what you are saying. I just want to make sure that we are getting balanced feedback and that it is clear to everyone that it is OK to disagree with us. It has seemed like everything has been a bit one sided. I may being going a bit far with it.
It honestly does feel a bit strange receiving so much positive feedback since we are typically used to the opposite.
So…for the record…I do appreciate positive feedback. I also appreciate constructive criticism. Please feel free to give both.
Dave…thanks for the feedback. We used an open WordPress k2 theme on the last blog…can’t remember which, but you can probably find it if searching.
[...] Here is a follow-up to the trickery post from yesterday which many of you gave great feedback on. [...]
To answer the question posed, I don’t think that trickery is an acceptable technique for bringing people to Christ. God’s message stands on its own and people will either accept it or not. It’s not our responsibility to repackage God’s word to make it more palatable, just to sow His seeds to the world. If we feel the need to use trickery to promote God, does that mean that we lack faith in Him and the power of His message?
That said, I don’t think the “Satan Hates Life” campaign is trickery. I think it’s fairly obvious that the ads are tongue-in-cheek… From a marketing standpoint, they’re clever. However, I don’t think they’re entirely appropriate.
Lifechurch is led by people. Normal people who are imperfect, just as we all are. Therefore, Lifechurch is bound to make mistakes. People need love and kindness… but they also need direction and correction. One of the hardest parts of love is correcting a loved one when he does wrong.
There are those who are critical of Lifechurch for no other reason than spite… however there are those who are critical out of genuine love and concern. Since Lifechurch is led by normal, imperfect people, it’s certainly possible that some of those criticisms are valid. I therefore think it may be a bit arrogant for a Lifechurch billboard ad to equate any criticism of the group to that of Satan. It’s prideful to think that any person who is critical of us is automatically evil.
Martin,
Without question we make mistakes and are imperfect.
I was tracking with your comment until you mentioned the part about us equating peoples criticism to evil.
In fact…this post and the one I just posted are examples of looking for truth inside of criticism.
If you somehow think that the satan campaign lumps anyone who doesn’t like LifeChurch.tv into the same category with Satan…that is flawed logic.
If you are referring to Sam’s comment and not the satan campaign…I don’t know that we would seriously do such a campaign, but if we did…it would be with great thought regarding the specific messages we used.
Of course I’m not suggesting that Lifechurch itself equates criticism to evil. I’m talking about public perception to a marketing campaign. What I’m suggesting is that an outsider could easily perceive the billboards as communicating that message.
If a person conscientiously thinks that “Lifechurch Sucks” then the billboards suggest that that person shares the opinion of Satan… and who wants to be lumped into that category? While Lifechurch is open to constructive criticism, the billboards can be perceived to contradict that. I don’t see how that’s a stretch… but if it’s flawed logic, I invite you to connect the dots for me.
I don’t think you’re actually asking if the church is an institution of trust. (I hope not!) I think most of us would agree it absolutely is, or should do everything it can to be trustworthy. The marketing question, while focusing on luring people in with clever headlines, rarely considers what the “market” already thinks about them: church is full of hypocrites, is only after their money, and doesn’t really care about them. I think to maintain integrity and build trust, the church can be clever, but should be cautious about being manipulative, or even disengenuous. (which can easily be construed as “trickery.”)
Martin,
I understand the distiction between intention and perception in your reply.
You are the first person I am aware of to draw that connection from the campaign. I do not see the logic, but the fact that the connection is so clear to you leads me to believe that it is quite possible others would see it that way. Hopefully not many will…and if they do they’ll take time to read the rest of it.
The “flawed logic” I was referring to is this:
Bobby likes the color blue
I like the color blue
Bobby has a daughter
Therefore…I have a daughter
Satan hates LifeChurch.tv
I hate LifeChurch.tv
Satan is evil
Therefore…I am evil.
If a person follows the campaign all the way through the purpose is even clearer since the website clearly makes the case for why Satan does not just LifeChurch.tv, but “life”.
The campaign is simply not designed to make fun of what “people” say about LifeChurch.tv. We could come up with a LOT better phrases than “I was robbed” or “Boycott” if that was the purpose.
Thanks for the perspective though.
I’ll try not to make circular arguments so as to stay away from the “Flawed logic” response.
Just as I think that Christians are called to a different standard of actions, thought, money habits, etc. I think the church (including individual churches) should operate at a higher standard, because they consist of people. I don’t care for these billboards or this campaign anymore than the “we hate church” campaign of a few years back. That was one of the worst and borderline offensive campaigns I’ve seen a church parade in recent memory.
That being said, it is not flawed logic for some to feel that if they criticize something about LifeChurch.tv then they are somehow agreeing with Satan. Just as it is not flawed logic for someone to assume that LifeChurch.tv thinks it is somehow the only church that Satan ‘hate’ or wants people to ‘boycott’. I say this because unbelievers in my office and unbelievers I’ve been around when they see these billboards have said just that.
Sure its ‘cutting edge’ and ‘different’ … but I’m not sure enough of the people that “don’t get it” will visit the website and see why a church would endorse these types of messages.
Have fun.
Thanks for the perspective AmericanChurch.
Given that at least two people have shared your perspective…I am completely wrong in my assumption that some people are not making the “They are calling me Satan” connection. It was certainly not our intent…if it was the campaign would have looked a lot different.
While I could invest some time responding to each part…I would not have enough time in my day to answer everything people say about it/us.
You are still welcome to your opinion though.
AmericanChurch, if people you work with are saying those things, couldn’t it be argued that these people are reading too much into what’s being said on the billboards? Afterall, the website listed is “SatanHatesLife.com” not “SatanHatesLifeChurch.com”.
There will ALWAYS be detractors, people that are offended by one thing or another. For instance, Walmart is so concerned about offending people during the holidays that they’ve directed their employees to use the salutation “Happy Holidays” and NOT to use “Merry Christmas”.
In years past, I spent countless hours talking and arguing with people (some of whom hated Christianity) because Christianity is “intolerant” and “exclusive vs. all inclusive”.
Maybe, instead of taking the same stance as the people you were referring to, you could take the high road and see it as an opportunity to open a dialogue with them about what the intention of the billboards was (the spirit behind it). If during the course of the dialogue it caused One person to visit a Christ centered church.. mission accomplished.
I know… I’m beating a dead horse, but the “flawed logic” argument just doesn’t fly. The use of a logical proof here is misapplied. As we’ve agreed upon, people are flawed. People therefore don’t always make their decisions based on logic. Certainly it’s not being suggested that Joe Q. Sixpack driving down the highway is going to perform some logical proof to test whether or not the impression he received from a billboard is logically sound. People perceive what they see around them… these perceptions are split second decisions that may or may not be fair… and for something such as an advertisement, that doesn’t necessarily render a person’s perceptions wrong or invalid.
Even though many of those you’ve heard from didn’t make the connection, I’m willing to bet that most, if not all of these people are affiliated with Lifechurch or have a similar mindset. I doubt that the target audience of this ad is people who are already familiar with Lifechurch, certainly you’re not advertising to customers you already have? The point is, the perceptions of your target audience may be different than the perceptions of the people to whom you’ve spoken… In any event, I’ll agree that this is too much time spent on discussing a billboard ad.
However… the biggest reason for beating this dead horse is this response to AmericanChurch:
“…I am completely wrong in my assumption that some people are not making the ‘They are calling me Satan’ connection.”
Perhaps it’s a typo… but that’s obviously not the position being argued here. It’s hard to gauge tone in writing, but are you being sarcastic here? If so… don’t you think that’s a bit rude, especially after previously asking for criticism? I do hope I’m reading that response wrong.
TerryG,
“Afterall, the website listed is ‘SatanHatesLife.com’ not ‘SatanHatesLifeChurch.com’.”
That’s not a bad point… however, one of the things being banked on is that a person will visit the website to get the whole message. On the site’s main page, the slogan “Satan Hates Life” shows up and is animated such that the word “Life” disappears and is replaced by the Lifechurch logo and the Lifechurch.tv logotype. So the visitor is left looking at the words, “Satan Hates Lifechurch.TV”… is that reading too much into it?
Martin,
You are reading it wrong.
I am not being sarcastic in my response. I was wrong in thinking that people would not make that connection…clearly some do.
I’m glad I was wrong there! Well, I’m considering this dead horse beaten… I think we’ve heard each other out. : )
Martin and Bobby,
Thank you both for demonstrating how Christians can disagree — even passionately — and still show love for one another. That’s hard enough to do face to face, let alone in print.
Glory to God!
What I like most about questions/complaints like these is that they give us the opportunity to show what kind of organization we are… are we the kind of people who will roll our eyes and defend our stance without considering that there might be some legitimacy to the complaint or are we the kind of people who will question ourselves and come to a conclusion based on God’s leadership?
I know too many churches and individuals (me included, more often than I’d like to admit) that defend where they stand, how they’ve acted, out of pride. Instead of considering that we might actually have been wrong, we just defend ourselves and maintain our “screw you” mentality for those who disagree.
I’m encouraged that LifeChurch.tv continues to question itself, to entertain the idea that it might be wrong in its approach, to re-design the model. I think a church this willing to reach beyond the standard of what’s “normal” has to be willing to admit when they’re wrong and move on.
Keep on pressing the envelope and remain humble enough to listen to the complaints,
Greg
I think, we should be the salt and the light,not doing the work for the devil
I don’t know what I think about this.. I’m very conflicted actually. I think it speaks to the sad times we live in where such marketing strategies are needed to get people in the pews. BUT, I think this particular marketing campaign runs another risk… Tonight I drove by a billboard that said boycott lifechurch.tv. Unfortunately I did not have time to read the bottom tag lines or see that the thought was supposedly from Satan. I came home and tried to find a website titled boycottlifechurch.tv. None existed. So I googled boycott life church. Nothing. But I could see (thanks to googles most popular searches drop down) that many others had googled the same thing. I wonder if they found what they were looking for. It was only after I made the life church one word did I find this blog. Until then, I was growning more and more concerned that lifechurch had become one of the growing list of scandalous churches that leave hurt people in its wake. If I had seen a billboard saying Life church sucks, I think I would have been so shocked I would not have noticed it was signed by Satan either. So I wonder how many people are actually turned away from your church by the billboards because they didn’t see it all or they don’t get it. A church’s reputation is valuable, but it only takes a little misunderstanding, miscommunication or a misread billboard to ruin it. Be careful. And be blessed.
I see a lot about the possible trickery being all about a matter of the perception of what constitutes trickery. I believe the bible tells us that the word of God is what wins souls. You cannot actually save any soul by any action. All you can do is present people with Gods word and the rest is between them and God. Bringing them to your church by any other means is pointless. If they aren’t there for the right reason, they may as well not be there at all. Of what benefit will their presence be to them or God if their heart is not right? I guess I would focus more on the message than the advertising. Most people seem to have found that to be too great a challenge to consume any energy concerning themselves with bringing people in just to deliver some manner of false or unscriptural message to them. Besides that the money might be better used helping someone in need so that by your works God might be glorified instead of merely stirring-up trouble amongst those Christ commanded for there to be no divisions among. Yeah, I know, that’ll never happen ’til we all stop pushing our own interpretations and inferences and start doing what is our only responsibility which is to teach THE WORD OF GOD! You cannot save anyone. All you can do is teach the word of God. Anything else will only lead to disappointment either now or in the future. Your house and theirs must have the right foundation and that you cannot give but by the word of God exclusively. Anything else will only make it more difficult for them to find that which they need. That there be no divisions among you. Wow! What a concept!
I have’nt read all the thoughts entered but did notice one suggesting Christ performed miracles to get peoples attention, not to prove he was the son of God. I believe the bible states the contrary. Simon the sorcerer used trickery, not Christ, which is why he wished to buy that power. He knew it was not only different but better than what he had.