Is Jesus our Product?
Product |ËprädÉkt|noun1 an article or substance that is manufactured or refined for sale :marketing products and services.
Jesus – The Creator of the Church
Itâs critical to understand that Jesus is not the product. He is the creator of the product, which is His Church and His Movement. He does not need the church but He has chosen to use the Church to spread His message of hope and salvation. Therefore, He works in and through the Church to empower and anoint His people to evangelize and disciple all who come to Him.
Itâs also important to clarify that when I refer to the Church, I donât necessarily mean the physical structure or a particular group; Iâm talking about the whole of the Body of Christ, the collective believers from every nation, tribe and tongue who profess the lordship of Jesus Christ. They may or may not assemble in local congregations, but they are still His Body. He created the Church.
The Product â Christianity
We do not sell Jesus, He is not for sell; we represent Him in our worship and lifestyle. Our worship and lifestyle either lead people to Him or away from Him. We should reveal Christianity in a way that is appealing to the under-churched people of our community. Then, we can lead them to Christ when they open their hearts to God. Christianity is our product; itâs what we âsell.â
The Model â the local church
When you go to any church, before you see Jesus, you see the people and how they express their faith in Christ in a local setting. There are distinct brands and variations within the different modelsâincluding Baptist or Pentecostal, mainline denomination or Charismatic. Some models are program based, some are liturgical, and other models are small group- driven or even prophetic. The fact is that there are enormous variations in how Christianity is presented to the world. Still, your local church is a âshowroomâ for Christianity. The question is, will the âcustomersâ buy? Will they at least âtest driveâ? Or will they leave and never return?
What are your thoughts on this?
Billy
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Comments
Mark
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy…that Christ is lifted up in my expression daily in all my experiences, that he would draw all men to himself and at the same time becoming all things to all men that some might be won. Knowing that Almighty God invests His power in this “product” experience, that’s a pretty compelling sell–and ultimately puts the Creator in the driver’s seat.
Luke Detering
Having an experience where people know within the first 10 minutes when they arrive that the building is simply the structure is important. Lifecoast church in Palm Coast, Florida (An ARC church) is a perfect example. Countless people walk in saying they feel more welcomed and valuable than any other church they’ve been to in their lives.
Church ultimately boils down to people not structures. A co-worker and I discussed this and he always thought the church was simply a building people went to. It’s great to share and expose non-believers to the idea that the church doesn’t NEED a building. It takes them from “customer” to consumer in most cases.
Billy
Good thoughts on the subject Luke. The people are much more important than the building but isn’t great that there is a building to meet people in? Thanks, Billy
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