Branding Jesus

Awhile back I did a post on Merchandising Christianity.  I came across a post today at Christ and Pop Culture that takes the discussion to a deeper level.  Here's an excerpt.

Not only is “promoting” Christianity theologically problematic (at best), it is ineffective. When choosing a candidate, brand, or sports team, popularity is persuasive. But if you are trying to persuade people that they are morally depraved and need a savior, the amount of people who attest to this belief is not very relevant. The reason is that for most individuals, choosing a brand, sports team, or candidate is more a subjective matter of taste and preference than an objective seeking of truth and goodness. If a band appeals to the tastes of most people, than it is reasonable to assume that other people will enjoy the band, but it does not follow that if most people are Christians then Christianity is true. Thus, a shirt with a cross or scripture on it is not likely to influence someone to become a believer, while a shirt with a band name on it is likely to encourage people to listen to that band.Slogans persuade differently that labels and brand names do. Slogans present content: a statement which tries to assert the importance, relevance, truth, or blessing of the Christian faith. Sometimes these slogans come in the form of Bible verses with clever commentary, other times a secular label, brand, or saying is twisted into a Christian message. An example of the latter would be a bumper sticker which read, “Know fear” or a tee-shirt which has an image of Christ bench-pressing the cross and reads, “LORD’s Gym: The Sin of the World. Bench press this!” Despite the fact that these designs don’t solely rely on popularity, they still lack any significant persuasive force. Fundamentally, tee-shirts and bumper stickers are not locales of thoughtful, rational discourse on important issues. People simply do not look to shirts to find answers to the most central and difficult questions in life.

Read the whole thing - Christ and Pop Culture | Wearing Our Faith: the Purpose and Effectiveness of Bumper Stickers and Christian Clothes

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Tags: culture, pop culture, merchandising, branding, theology, religion, Christian, Christianity, Jesus

Comments

[Jeff Krantz]

I have to disagree with this particular take on "branding." The author seems to think that the demonstration of one's own devotion to Christ (even if it is humorously done) does not help to make Christians. Of course it does. Just as a tee shirt sporting a band's name makes others more likely to want to listen to them, so also an indication on a tee shirt that Jesus is one's Source is going to make it more likely that a person will try out Jesus.

It isn't a guarantee that once they view themselves in the light of the Gospel they won't reject it. (not many who aren't desperate will accept it) But then, a tee shirt that gets me to buy one CD doesn't mean that I won't hate the music.

I think the author gets the order a little backwards. Perhaps that's the reason he (?) can't see the parallels. Being Christian isn't about giving intellectual assent to a theological proposition, "We are depraved and need a Savior." It is being in relationship with Jesus. Oh, that awareness of our need for a Savior comes with the relationship, but it comes *after,* not before. We can draw people to Jesus without telling them they're depraved. One minute in the light of His love will show them how filthy their garments are. And how far He'll go to make them clean. But that's not for us to do. Intellectual assent doesn't make a Christian. Relationship with Jesus does.

I've gone on too long for a first time commenter. My apologies...

Jeff

[DLE]

David,

I have to agree that this post is too facile.

Marketing is broader than the obvious kitsch attempts here. For instance, I know a church that worked hard to incorporate cutting-edge graphic design in their church materials at a time when this was not common practice. Graphic designers, many of them unchurched, took notice. Their preconceptions that Christians had no design sense was blown away. Some even attended the church to see how it could be that Christians could design such cool stuff. Those unchurched designers heard the Gospel. Many were saved.

Can this kind of thing be used in an exploitative way? Of course it can. It's easy to skewer the exploitative. That same church had a motto: Come as you are, you'll be loved. And that resonated with people, too, because no one was saying that message at the time. And people came. Even the "odd" ones that would've been kicked out of every other church other because of a purple mohawk or goth makeup. And those people got saved.

Today, most churches have gone "me, too!" and adopted those ideas. Now there's too much noise and not enough signal. But that doesn't mean that church marketing is dead or that no one can do better.

And lastly, the very fact that the people in your church are friendly or not can be seen as marketing your church. The impression left in a visitor walks he or she out of your meeting is part marketing. Using the term marketing may be the stumbling block here, but the concept still matters. We get more than our share of visitors and people who stay as a result because the church where I'm a member is known throughout the area as a friendly church that will tell people about Jesus. That's word-of-mouth marketing, right there. So how can anyone protest against that?

[DaveD]

If a tee shirt gets one person to ask the wearer "Do you really believe that?", a door is opened that might not have been other wise. The same can be said about a bumper sticker that draws out a question or comment in response.

Even if the shirt/sticker whatever just makes someone angry and gets them thinking about Jesus...even if it is to argue with the idea, isn't that a step in the right direction?

DD