HIGH TECH DEPENDENCY

It is quite disheartening to witness the commercialization of the Church today, and the selling of, “all things God” in our ridiculously retailed society. Everything is for sale and as a result, every church must have its own flashy logo, a state-of-the-art website, cutting edge smartphone apps, Facebook pages, and a YouTube channel in order to compete in the marketing madness of this tech savvy generation. In one sense, these are all great tools that enable even the smallest of Christian fellowships to excel in their individual fulfillment of the Great Commission, but of course, with every great ingenuity and marketing scheme comes a dependency upon formulas, technology, and gimmicks, rather than on the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Nowhere in the Book of Acts, or anywhere else in the Bible for that matter, do we ever see the need for advertising, marketing, or promotions to advance the kingdom of God. At no point do we see the disciples or anyone in the early church depending on anything other than the word of God and the power of His Spirit. Imagine Peter, James, and John sitting in the upper room in a strategy session, trying to figure out a way to appeal to the consumer sensibilities of the demographic of southeast Jerusalem. Rather, “…they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers… …continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. (Acts 2:42-47)” 

We don’t read anything in the pastoral epistles written by the Apostle Paul about effective marketing campaigns designed to improve growth trends in multi-site campuses. Quite the contrary, Paul just charged Timothy to, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. (2 Tim 4:2-4)” Ultimately, the Church must wisely utilize all of the tools at its disposal, but she must strive not become overly dependent to the detriment of their dependency upon the Holy Spirit. She must never forget to, “…worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh… (Philip 3:3)”

By Pastor Glen Mustian 

Works Cited:

New King James Version, Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publisher. 2002. Print.