Why I Don't Like Church Marketing...

I have had several conversations recently with people who are frustrated with certain situations or people in their churches and are thinking about leaving to go somewhere else. It has lead me to consider this dilemma that people face at times (myself included), and the unfortunate contribution that church marketing makes to this.

When I say church marketing, what I mean by this is the effort that almost all churches make to communicate to complete strangers why their church is the right one for them. It is usually filled with promises like - our church is safe, welcoming, non-threatening, kid/family friendly, real, relevant, casual, contemporary, etc. 

The reason I don't like this kind of church marketing is that it causes people to believe that there actually is a church out there that they won't have to face any problems in. In other words, it makes people think that all they need to do is find the right church, and they won't have to deal with any of the messiness that they experience in other churches. As a result, they jump from one church to the next looking for this, disappointed each time when people aren't perfect.

The reality is that church is messy - no matter what church family you are a part of. It's a result of the fact that churches are made up of people, and people are messy. And just like our families involve many ups and downs together - good times and bad times - church families are no different. So don't let your expectations be falsely established based on the well-intentioned marketing promises made in every church's bulletin, website, or brochure. Instead plug into the life of a church family and embrace every up and down you face as part of the process of doing life together in your pursuit of God and His best for your life.