Has church become too commercialized?

There has been a growing trend in the church market. There are more books, websites, and programs for church leaders and their teams than ever before. Church growth, Gen X services, post modernism, authentic communities, emerging movements, worship experiences, and planting missional churches have all been the buzzwords over the last decade and has led to many of the fore mentioned products. It seems that Christianity is a big business. You can even bling out your dog now in the latest JC apparel.

I recently asked a pastor about how the Exponential Conference went last week and before he replied the word jumped into my head - commercialized. He said the conference was more about speakers promoting their books and agendas than church planting. I won’t go into my personal experience with the National New Church Conference but I can totally see my friend’s point of view.

Christianity has become too commercialized in some aspects and I think we need to get a reign on it.

It appears in some circles that selling books, CD’s, sermon series, speaking gigs, metrosexual identities, and being the top blogger is the “in thing”. This has really been observed in the church planting world and evident by the groupies who continually blog about stalking their idol at conferences or who market their personal blog more than their church…all the while wearing long sleeve black shirts with big collars unbuttoned to their chest with faded jeans, Doc Martens, and a soul patch or frosted hair to match.

You know what I would like to hear more about and see?

Jesus Christ, biblical inerrancy, small guys in the trenches, life transformation, spiritual discipline, serving and washing feet, becoming the least, humility, toned down church marketing and advertising, and the realization that people NOT in church or our faith see what’s happening but many Christians don’t.

Please know that I have personally struggled with these issues myself and I thank Jesus every day that I see in a new perspective. I’m jacked up too, but friends, we have to start looking at Christianity in America through a new lenses or we will reap what we have sown.

April 30, 2008 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Leadership, Church Marketing, Church Planting

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Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

I wrote about this topic a while back and the same conversation came up with a church planting brother the other day so I think it’s worth mentioning again.

It is so easy to compare ourselves to another church or a church leader or church planter. We look at others and benchmark our success (or failures) by what they have achieved. Churches try to duplicate other churches or some of us attempt to be the clone of Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, or David Crowder (goatee and all). But what works for them isn’t going to work for us - not to mention that God has called us to be ourselves in the situation He has given us.

God has uniquely made you. Celebrate it. Live it out loud!

We can learn from others but the best thing we can do for ourselves, our team, and our organization is to be true to who we’re called to be or the vision we have been given…not someone else’s.

April 15, 2008 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Leadership, Church Ministries, Church Planting, Innovative Churches

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Who is Acts 29? Let’s Ask Them

Acts 29 Director Scott Thomas has a post called 7 Misrepresentations of Acts 29.

I think No. 2 is especially relevant to some of the issues going on …

2. That we advocate alcohol use
The Acts 29 Network permits diversity on this secondary matter and pursues unity on the primary theological issues. We respect the right of Christians, organizations, and denominations to arrive at differing conclusions on this matter. So long as they are within the boundaries of Scripture, we respect those positions and welcome faithful Christians holding them into the Acts 29 Network. Together we can pursue what is most important-the expansion of God’s kingdom through the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the planting of His church.

He also links to a PDF document on Alcohol and Acts 29.

I’d go as far as saying that if you really want to give Acts 29 brothers and sisters a genuine, fair shake … you oughta at least read this post … straight from the guy in charge of the network.

[Found via Steve McCoy]

April 30, 2007 · Filed Under Church Planting

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Take some notes for me…The National New Church Conference

Last year I had the privilege of attending the National New Church Conference in Orlando, Florida and it was absolutely amazing! There’s nothing like being with a group of people who are radically passionate about a vision and willing to go to great lengths to accomplish it. If you are praying about planting a church or learning more about church planting - then don’t miss next year’s National New Church Conference. If you are close to Orlando you still might be able to register and attend. As for me, I had to miss it this year and I am bummed out…but for those of you who are there - please take some notes and send me the Cliff Notes version of NNCC.

April 24, 2007 · Filed Under Church Planting

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Get Ready for Rockin Church Plants!

Yes, it was bound to happen sooner or later! I am taking some notes from Cory Miller and will be launching a “Rockin Church Plant” series in a couple of months. Since church planting is in my blood and I can totally relate to these radical visionaries who are in the trenches daily following God’s call, I naturally have to give out some props to my band of brothers! And you can help too… Read more

April 10, 2007 · Filed Under Case Studies, Church Planting

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Seven Ideas for Naming Your Church

I had a conversation a few days ago with a church planter who was asking advice about what to name his church and how that would work in a branding situation. Naming your church can be a very exciting process but it can also cause analysis paralysis. Planters all want the “perfect” name and something that will capture the essence of who they are. So how do you come up with a great church name and how do you know it will be a keeper?

There really is no true secret formula for developing a name that rocks (ok, there is but I can’t tell you all the secrets). Sometimes you find the needle in the haystack, sometimes it takes a while for your branding to ignite, and unfortunately there are times where the name just falls flat and fails to invoke any excitement or meaning. But make no mistake – your brand and name is very important – so I am going to give you a seven suggestions on how to develop a great name for your new or “re-purposed” church.

1. Pray about it…and then pray some more. Jesus is the CEO and we need to take our requests to Him. When I decided on Element 3 Church for my church name it became clear through prayer and a vision. There was a lot of meaning behind it and I knew this was the one. Maybe it won’t happen that way for you but I do believe that prayer is essential for discovering your church name. Read more

April 2, 2007 · Filed Under Church Branding, Church Marketing, Church Planting

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