I spent several years working in advertising and marketing. One of the many truths in the industry was to know who you were communicating to. Without working toward that end, the success of a campaign or product launch would likely fall flat.
The same is true of the people who come to the services every weekend at my church. They are people who need to be communicated with in a certain way and not every approach garners a successful outcome. This has been true of my experience in the last year, which has been my first year in full-time ministry.
It has been difficult to translate some of the commonplace truths from my marketing days into the ministry. In fact, I pretty much forgot all about knowing my audience and was engulfed by a wave of ministry comparisons. I spent the year looking at the way other churches “do it” and compared it to our way of doing things. I would draw conclusions based upon faulty comparisons. The fact is, Yosemite Church’s members are not Sadlleback’s members, they’re not Northpoint Ministry’s members, they aren’t even Willow’s members. They are unique. Specifically shaped by their surroundings, their socio-economic backgrounds, their family histories, their careers… and a whole bunch of other factors too numerous to write. They are going to worship differently, they will approach the cross in unique ways and they most certainly will not do what the members at the church down the street or across the country do.
The bottom line- Get to know your audience and communicate to them accordingly.
1 Comment
June 6, 2009 at 1:09 am
Right on. My reading of Ephesians 3:10 is that God’s intent was to show all the aspects of His wisdom through the church. This is an insight many church programs seem to overlook.
To those doing everything by the book, how are you reaching those that God has designed you to reach, and not some generic “normal” person?