Marketing Jesus 101.
9 mins
Marketing was my first major before God told me to switch to Theology (and I finally listened). Though marketing isn’t my academic pursuit right now, it’s definitely still one of my passions. I’m not your average theologian; I’m a marketer who loves Jesus. I just want others to experience the peace, joy, and hope that I have experienced through Jesus.
Some get a bad taste in their mouth when we mention business and religion in the same breath so let me explain more where I am coming from. Business is literally just the transfer of value. It is not inherently evil even though some have used it as a tool to hurt others. I just want to share Jesus, and the value found in and through Him with others.
The difference between sales and marketing is that sales is about numbers while marketing is about experience. I have gotten to know Jesus over some time and I want to share that experience with as many people as possible. I want them to experience His peace. Jesus is honestly the best all-in-one person in the history of ever. His joy is amazing. His peace surpasses all understanding. He adds quality and purpose to your life. He births fruit of kindness and love in you. And get this, He’s all free. He already paid the price for the product for you. He just wants you to take it as a gift. It’s that easy. No “easy payments of 19.99.” No delivery fee. It's free and available. He is free and available. Just gotta open your hands and receive it.
Now from my rudimentary knowledge of business, I know that the likelihood behind a sale is closely related to supply and demand. Supply is the amount you have and demand is how much it is needed right now. Now we have a lot of Jesus. There's definitely enough to go around. He is definitely needed by all. The most basic human desire is love and He’s got it. And He is free. Sooo why don't people buy?
The only logical explanation is found in the mismanagement of Jesus, His mismarketing, and lack of honest marketing surrounding Him.
If this is a perfect “product” the only reason people wouldn’t take part is that they don’t know or they have been lied to.
Let me explain more. Now I’m sure a lot of you have gone shopping with your mom. A lot of times after a long day, my brothers and I would stay in the car while my mom went on. But if it was a store we knew had free samples, we would most definitely accompany her on her quest. We would always go to see what free samples the store had to offer and there are only a few reasons why we wouldn't partake:
The product seemed like it would take more work to get than the benefit it would give us.
We believed that the product was truly something we didn’t want, need, or couldn’t benefit from having.
The product was moldy or looked dirty. It didn’t look good.
The only reason we wouldn’t accept these free gifts is because of how they were presented to us.
So many people have a tainted image of God. He is the most needed person in the world. He is free. And all you have to do is call Him. The only reason I can think of for people not wanting a free sample of Jesus is mismarketing. We think He won’t help us because of what we have done or who we are. We think He is hard to get. Or we think He is not capable to help us practically.
So many people are turning from Him and the idea of a relationship with Jesus (understandably) because church people aren’t marketing Jesus correctly. They’re marketing a version of Him that is not the full picture of His love. (And we could dive into that for a while.)
But 1 John 4:8 says, “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I promise you, if you believe in a God who isn't dripping in love, it's not Jesus. It's wrong, and we need to stop using God's name in vain and preaching a version of Him that is a lie. Jesus has been so good to us and we misrepresent Him so much by not talking about Him in His full light. We aren’t advertising a real product so why would anyone buy into it? Why would anyone think twice about accepting a product that doesn't work? Or worse yet, a product that produces the opposite of love..?
If people can’t see a God of love working in you and changing you to be more loving and caring and understanding, why would they believe that that same God would work for them?
Crusades, the KKK, the hatred of the LGBTQ community, so many wars, the acquisition and mismanagement of power (recent and ancient) and so many people’s experiences of trauma and hurt have come from church and church people because we don’t know Him so we don't present a real version of Him. (Whoever does not love, does not know God.)
We want to present the love of God but how? We can’t without actually knowing Him for ourselves.
I worked at a Jamaican restaurant called Jamaicaway in Nashville. It’s great, you should check it out and say Pace sent you. We’ve been on the food network and all that multiple times. We get crazy accolades and awards. It’s one of the best restaurants in Nashville and I feel like I’m one of the best salesmen. I’m charismatic. I love making friends with customers. I’m great at connecting and upselling. But there is one problem, I’m a vegetarian. So no matter how much I use energy and warm vibes to create connections, no matter how good the Oxtail or Curry Goat is, because I haven’t had a personal experience with it, I can only go so far in presenting it in its full essence to others!
So many of my friends are apprehensive about church or the idea of God because of how church people have treated them and presented God to them. If we don’t know Him ourselves we are destined to misrepresent Him.
I want to say it again. If the Jesus you’re marketing isn’t dripping with love, there is no reason any sane person would accept it. And at the same time, if the Jesus you present is dripping with love, I don’t think there’s much reason any sane person wouldn’t accept it.
And if you aren’t actively allowing God to introduce Himself to you, there’s no way you will adequately introduce Him to others.
I'm sorry to say that if you were taught a version of Him that wasn't love. But there is good news. God says that if you seek Him you will find Him. Just ask and God will reveal His true loving nature to you.
We have to really get to know the real Jesus so that we can share Him accurately.
There are two words for ‘Knowing’ in Greek. One is factual knowing and one is an intimate knowing. What's interesting is that you can know facts about someone without knowing them personally, but when you know someone personally you can't help but know some facts about them.
We have to meet Jesus personally. We have to get to know Him as a person so we can really share Him with others.
We aren't God's lawyers, we are His witnesses.
We aren't God's salesman, we are His marketers.
We have to experience him for ourselves.
We have to get to know Him personally.
I spoke about this topic at Redemption Fellowship. If your learning language is more conducive to listening or watching than learning, check out the link below:
Redemption Fellowship
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