Everybody wants to stand out.

Politicians. Comedians. Celebrities. The TV networks. Web sites. Mortgage companies. Whoever.

On billboards. On the radio. On TV. On bumper stickers. In your email inbox. In the mail. In those pop-up Internet ads that flash neon colors, or the ones you have to "skip" or "close" just to read an article. Whatever.

The challenge is standing out in an increasingly competitive environment ... so they become louder and louder ... get more "in your face" ... turn up the heat in the raunchy category ... go as far as possible with crude humor, testing all politically incorrect boundaries and taboos ... get those pop-up ads to be unavoidable where one pops up after another is closed ... all with the goal of trying to make your service or product or personality to stand out more than your competitor.

Many churches and pastors want to do the same -- stand out, that is. Not that there's anything wrong with that ... just wanting to stand out.

We, as the Church, want to find a way where our local clusters of believers [i.e. churches] and our message stands out and sticks out.

We feel His Church has the "greatest story in history" and want others to know it. And thus, we'll use any tool available to trumpet that message and to help us in the church stand out in the midst of a crowded, loud world.

But the hard part for us is determining which methods and tools we use to do that -- stand out.

Here's a summary of ways people try to stand out [and in thinking of this, I read this great post and thought about how people I personally know try to stand out]:

• Be louder than everone else -- like yelling
• Be annoying -- those stupid pop-up ads
• Be "remarkable" -- Seth's "Purple Cow"
• Be controversial -- reference Madonna, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore or Ann Coulter
• Be sensational -- maybe this is like being controversial, but I'm thinking of Paris Hilton here.
  

I'm a big fan of being remarkable. Our message and calling is drastically different. We should stand out automatically and naturally. We've been called to herald a message that sticks out and to a lifestyle that will cause us to stand out.

[The sad thing is often we're not seen as remarkable but as creepy.]

And being controversial is just a part of the message, right? Jesus said this. The apostle Paul was beaten and whipped out of towns for the controversial Gospel.

But being controverial can be artificial too if we manufacture it.

And that's what concerns me about the church using the "controversial" hot button to stand out.

I've said this before ... but tools and methods need to be "filtered, tested, refined through biblical principles. The question must continually be asked: 'Does this violate or impede upon a clear Scriptural mandate or principle?' 'Are we crossing a line and going too far in using this tool?'"

A couple more are: Does it happen naturally, or are we forcing it? Are we going over the top with this and making it be more than it is? Are we simply using a marketing method because it works but which lacks any biblical substance?

There’s also an inherent danger from NOT using any tool or doing anything new and just retreating into our Christian fortresses, where we sing our style of music, oblivious to the world spiraling down into the abyss around us. I think this is why you see the buzz word “relevant” so prolificly on Web sites, in church mission statements, magazines named with it, etc. Too often, we've become irrelevant in our methods, using forms of "church" that were fruitful in the '50s and '60s.

But whenever the method comes BEFORE the Message ... Houston, we have a massive problem.

I think, biblically, standing out really means lifting up the Crucified God, who gives away a priceless gift [grace] that costs your life [faith and repentance, counting the cost, carrying the cross] to follow and worship the Creator-Redeemer.

It means we use the spotlights of attention to point to Christ. Putting Him in the center of that beaming light of all we do. Center stage, the main event. Turning all eyes toward Him, which means ... yes, that we're looking at Him too.

Jesus must be our ultimate measure, the supreme standard by which we use to evaluate tools, methods and ... controversy.

I admit it's a delicate balance and a terribly difficult task ... with lots of tension and a fine boundary line to observe. It's a job, I think, we can do ... in His power, with His wisdom, for His glory.

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