Do the principles of marketing apply to the Church? How is your church being perceived by first time visitors? Does the church website help or hinder those who are looking for a church from choosing to come? These and many more are important questions that well meaning Christians can disagree about. I know that some feel that Church, the Gospel, etc. ought to be difficult and hard to approach, but much of that resistance to the idea of making Church accessible to the Lost comes from a rightful resistance to those who would change the content of the Gospel to make it more palatable. Making sure that the sign at the road is clearly visible, or that the website contains the needed information in a orderly way, is not "selling Jesus", and it is certainly not changing the Gospel. What it is, is following Paul's example of trying to save as many people as possible through whatever tools we have available.
In Titus 2:1-10, Paul gives Titus advice to pass along to various segments of the Cretan society regarding the morality of the people who make up the Church. This focus on morality has a three-fold purpose in Paul's mind: (1) It keeps the Word of God from being maligned, (2) it silences critics who would otherwise rightly call God's people hypocrites, and (3) it makes the Gospel "attractive". The Gospel message itself needs no, nor does it allow for any, tweaking. The message is the power of God, it is doing just fine, it is the messengers that need to get their act together in order to deliver the message in a way that the Lost can hear and believe. When God's people act like they really are God's people, it removes an impediment against belief and instead reinforces the message of the Gospel by offering living examples of its power.
So go ahead, make sure the church building is clean and in good repair with proper signage, make sure you have a friendly greeter at the door, do whatever you can to make the all of the Church experience reflect our love for God and commitment to him, and make sure that while you're at it, you work on getting God's people to reflect God's holiness too, when you do, it will certainly make the Gospel message attractive to those who need its saving power.
To watch the video, click on the link below:
Sermon Video
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