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I just finished a book title “Contagious.” It was written by Jonah Berger and it is all about the power of word of mouth. Oftentimes word of mouth is more powerful than visual advertising. Here are some things that really stood out to me from the book.
One example Berger used to illustrate the power of word of mouth is a hot dog diner in New York. This looks like a regular diner. In the back corner there is an old-fashioned telephone booth. If you go in this booth and dial a 2 on the rotary dial phone, the back panel opens and you enter into the “Please Don’t Tell” bar. This bar has no visual advertising. You might think that they have no business, but no. They are reservation only. They open over the phone at 3:00pm for reservations, first come first served, and they are booked for the evening by 3:30pm. That’s pretty powerful word of mouth. How effective are our churches at using word of mouth? Do we focus on visual advertising too much?
Another important thing to remember: “When we care, we share.” If you want your thought or product to be contageous, it must be emtional. It must make people care. In a study that Berger did he found that “awe-inspiring article are 30% more likely to make the Most-Emailed list.” What is more awe-inspiring than the Gospel? When marketing messages, we should focus on feeling, not information. It’s like the 180 Second of Vision blog post I reblogged the other day. Instead of just standing up on Sunday mornings and giving all the information of the announcements, we should tell people why the announcement matters, make them care about it. Berger goes on to say that “activating emotion is the key to transmission.” Think of how many more visitors or people you will have attending different events if you make them care about it. Then they will be more eager to share it and bring more people.
These are just a couple of things that I drew from the book. It really was a great book to draw practical examples from of how powerful word of mouth can be.
Luke 24: 1-12, 36-43, 50-51
At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of Jesus.
They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, they thought they were making it all up.
But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head.
….
While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.
He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.
…
He then led them out of the city over to Bethany. Raising his hands, he blessed them , and while blessing them, took his leave, being carried up to heaven.
Matthew 27: 27-53
The soldiers assigned to the governor took Jesus into the governor’s palace and got the entire brigade together for some fun. They stripped him and dressed him in a red toga. They plaited a crown from branches of a thornbush and set it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand for a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mocking reverence: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” they said. “Bravo!” Then they spit on him and hit him on the head with the stick. When they had had their fun, they took off the toga and put his own clothes back on him. Then they proceeded out to the crucifixion.
Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.
After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they whiled away the time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”
The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.
From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around midafternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”
But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.
At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised.
The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”
John 13:1-17
Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.
Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”
Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”
Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”
“Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”
Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you are clean. But not every one of you.” After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.
Matthew 26: 26-29
During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples:
Take and eat. This is my body.
Taking the cup and thanking God, he gave it to them:
Drink this, all of you. This is my blood, God’s new covenant poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.
I’ll not be drinking wine from this cup again until that new day when I’ll drink with you in the kingdom of my Father.
I just finished reading the book Me, Myself and Bob by Phil Vischer. If you do not know, Phil Vischer is the creater of VeggieTales. This book tells the story of the rise (and fall) of Veggie Tales and Big Idea. I had not realized this before reading the book, but Big Idea went bankrupt after the Jonah VeggieTale movie bankrupt. I highly recommend this book, especially for the veggie lovers out there!
At the end of the book, Phil Vischer reflects on everything he learned through the experience.
I cannot help but since the Veggie Tale song: “And so what we have learned applies to our lives today and God has a lot to say in his book!”
Vischer went through a lot of emotional, and spiritual ups and downs along with the ups and downs of his company. He had a huge dream and vision for VeggieTales and Big Idea. He got to experience his dream being given to him, and then taken away. As he reflects on this, he uses thoughts from many different authors and speakers. Two thoughts that stuck out to me in particular.
The first was that sometimes in the Bible, God takes away your dream, or threatens to, in order to see if you will still choose him. Think Abraham and Isaac. Abraham had dreamed of having a son, well any child for that matter, and just when he thought it was hopeless, there he was. There was his dream, in his arms, and God asked him to sacrifice it. Abraham showed God that he would still choose him over his dream.
The other thing that one speaker had said that really stood out to Vischer, and myself, was this: Christians should not have vision, they should have revelation. At first I was not sure how I felt about this, and to tell you the truth I am still wrestling with it, but it does seem to make sense. Vision is what we want to do, even if it is for God’s kingdom, it is still our dream. Revelation comes from God. If find this thought very interesting, and honestly hard for me to deal with. It makes me wonder, what dreams or visions do I have for the future that are not revelations from God.
Visher says that at one point after bankruptcy someone had asked him where he hoped to see himself in 5-10 years, the stereotypical interview question. They had asked him for his vision, and since he had just wrestled through this vision/revelation idea, he answered with, “Living in the middle of God’s will.” I think that is an awesome answer to that question and leaves it all up to God to reveal his plans for you. And this way, whatever God reveals cannot get in the way of your own dreams, so you are free to follow him.
I recently finished “You Lost Me” by David Kinneman and the Barna Group. For those of you who do not know about the Barna Group, they do researches about Christians and then draw conclusions based upon that data. This book was about young adults leaving the church. David Kinneman outlines the research and what it shows us, and then also gives suggestions for what the church can do to keep young adults in the church.
One of his suggestions that stood out to me the most, as something much needed, is mentors. How much more of a rich environment would our church have if adults were being mentors to the younger generation?
As a young adult, I think I would have benefited greatly from someone taking the time to mentor me. While I did have adults who were invested in my life and who I had a good relationship with, the book talks specifically about adult Christians mentoring young adults with the same career pursuit in mind. I think this is especially helpful, especially for the majority of young adults going into a secular career. It would have been very helpful to have a Christian mentor to advise me about my career, and counsel me on how to live out my faith within a secular environment.
As we continue in our churches, let us remember what an important influence we can be in the lives of the younger generations. Let us focus on meaningful, intentional relationships and mentoring.
I hope all of you enjoyed your Christmas holiday and time with your family. I know I did. What I did not enjoy was getting the flu after all of the holidays. Even though I did not have the Christmas break I am used to, this being my first Christmas season with a real person job, I did get to do some relaxing and a good bit of reading. I read a couple books on church marketing and diligently took notes so I could share my thoughts with you, and then in one of my cleaning sprees, misplaced them. So while I continue to look for them I wanted to ask you, did you read any thought-provoking or just plain enjoyable books over the holidays?
I was reading a book when the other said,
“Christianity is fundamentally a communication event.”
Stop. Think. Underline. Bookmark.
I really loved this quote because it is so true but it goes un-communicated.
How is Christianity spread?
How is Christianity understood?
How was Christianity explained to you?
Communication
Are we keeping the flame of Christianity alive by keeping the communication burning?
Are we communicating about it enough?
I recently read a book that consisted of articles compiled from the Heath Brothers, the book was titled, “The Myth of the Garage” (you can find it on amazon). One of the articles in the book is titled “I Love You. Now What?” In this article they discuss how many more people are complaining about things rather than trying to compliment things. There are tons of places that let you call and complain, but do you remember even one time where there was a number to call to compliment someone on something they have done?
There is a lack of recognition for things done wrong, but what about things done right? You should always be able to find the good even among the bad. There should always be something positive that you can tell someone.
Now what about the church? In my opinion, this complaining plague runs rampant even in our churches. Whatever happened to letting gratitude blossom? When was the last time you found the positive in things even among the bad? We as Americans, even as Christians, are very likely to only see the bad. We like to complain about the bad, but we forget about the good. Won’t the church grow even more and even faster if it is filled with happiness?
The article ends with this quote, “A thank-you creates a radiating halo of happiness—the receiver feels recognized and the giver feels joyful.” So here is the challenge, look for the good. Compliment people. Try to start by complimenting and thanking at least one person a day for this whole week, and I would encourage you to not forget about your pastor or other church leaders.
It’s been a while since I have blogged. Not because I have not had things to say but more because I have just been so busy. In the past three weeks I moved home, got married, went on a honeymoon, moved to Tennessee, took my husband to the ER, and started classes. I finally got some time to sit and write.
I just finished this great book called Branded by Tim Sinclair. It was all about how to market Jesus. Sinclair presented many fresh ideas. In the introduction he stated that the book was not to be used as an answer book but rather to challenge and begin thinking about these ideas.
I really enjoyed the book and the fresh perspective. I would definitely recommend it to everyone. Sinclair is a very entertaining author. I wanted to present some of his thoughts and begin discussing them. He made some very good points that I think we need to be aware of.
When I first told my coworkers that I was going to college to study marketing and that I wanted to eventually work in a church, one of them replied, “Oh, so you’re going to a Christian college to learn how to lie.” Sinclair realizes that many people will be hesitant to the idea that we should be marketing Jesus, since the term “marketing” presents negative connotations to many people. He makes the comparison, however, that marketing Jesus is much like evangelism. The definition of marketing is: “the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.” Sinclair stated that a good definition of evangelism is: “the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing Jesus.” I was glad that he made that point. We need to remember the reasons and motives behind our evangelism/marketing.
Another point that Sinclair made that my husband and I talked about was the idea that “lack of competition breeds laziness. Laziness breeds apathy. And eventually, apathy breeds disaster.” For a long time Christians haven’t had any obvious competition, and now we do. Think about it, we’ve gotten lazy. “Coke wouldn’t taste as good without Pepsi.” Are we evangelizing like we are in competition?
Sinclair spent a chapter talking about how we try to change a persons lifestyle before we attempt to change their heart and their beliefs. Sinclair states that “Christians often try to change a person’s culture rather than let God change their heart. We try to force others to act like us, with the hope that they’ll eventually believe like us.” Wow, how true is that. We are often too scared to deal with the heart and beliefs that we just try to deal with the outside.
I really like one analogy that Sinclair used to describe what Christianity has become. He described religion and all the choices like a cereal aisle. There are many varieties of cereal and many boxes they come in. The religion aisle also has many choices like Methodist, Buddhist, Scientology and so on. “Christians have put themselves in a boring box.” We’re just a plain box holding something great, but all everyone else is seeing is a plain box next to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. At least that is what we are showing everyone. Isn’t Jesus better than a boring box?
In the last chapter of the book, Sinclair poses a series of “What if” questions to challenge us and to think about and question. Those questions gave me a lot to think about and I’d like to pass on a few to you to think about.
1. What if we spent a week with our family in Honduras or Haiti instead of Orlando or the Ozarks?
2. What if we didn’t write our tithe checks this week?
*What if, instead we gave it to the homeless (*=my insertions)
3. What if we went to the bar one Saturday night per month with our friends?
*It is one thing to always invite our friends to our church where we are comfortable. It is another thing to go to them where they are comfortable.
4. What if we started Grubby Sunday at church?
5. What if we removed the signs in front of our church?
*Then we would have to advertise our own church and communicate with everyone what it was about and when they should come. It would be completely our responsibility.
6. What if we chose not to pray before meals or bedtime?
*Then our prayers would become authentic
7. What if our churches gave coffee and doughnuts to a shelter each week instead of to the congregation?
8. What if we didn’t read our Bibles ever day?
*What if we spent that time to physically help someone or to literally be the hands and feet of God?
9. What if every church in America was open to the public seven days a week?
10. What if we decided to become homeless for a weekend?
What do you think? Have we gotten lazy? It is too late to change?
Think: Church Growth 