Marketers Are Pastors (and Pastors Are Marketers)

We need to rethink how we understand marketing.

There has been a shift to understanding the Bible, doctrine, discipleship and other aspects of the Christian walk as a story in which we are participating. Kevin Vanhoozer says, “Sound doctrine ultimately orients disciples to the true story of the world.”¹ I think framing our faith in terms of a story we are a part of is one of the best ways to form disciples in our secular age.

But for all the talk about how stories form us, the church has paid little attention to those who know how to tell formative stories more than anyone else: marketers.

Marketers are pro storytellers. Marketers exploit stories we already believe to sell us stories we will buy. The best marketers aren’t making up anything new. They understand what people desire and speak directly to the ache they feel in order to sell a product.

The caption of an ad I was targeted by from Instagram on Instagram. Anything about this sound familiar?

If you want to understand people, pay attention to marketing.

Marketers are at the forefront of cultural change. What marketers are talking about today will shape the future. Marketing is about going to where the audience is and telling them stories that sell. They have their pulse on the left side of the bell curve to see where people are going to be in order to beat the masses to it and wait for them with stories and ads. As the saying goes, “Marketers ruin everything.” It’s because they see where the masses have gone and they go too. There is no hesitancy about “should we do it?” If there is an audience that believes a story and is willing to buy, marketers will be there.

This is why the church should pay attention to marketing. Marketers are already a step behind the culture. They see which way the winds of mass sentiment are blowing and go with it. By the time the church feels the wind, it’s usually far too late. The ship has sailed on without them.

The people in the congregation are affected by marketing 6 days/week far more than a sermon on Sunday. John Mark Comer highlighted this helpful stat²:

Barna's recent research on millennials found they spend almost 2,800 hours a year consuming digital content, but only 153 hours of that is Christ-based content; the rest is an internet cornucopia of YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, Apple, and others.

You can imagine those numbers are more extreme for Gen Z.

People in the pews will be formed by the cultural winds through media and marketing before a pastor is even aware the winds have changed.

Seth Godin said, “Nuclear weapons have killed a tiny fraction of the number of people that unethical marketing has. It's time we realized that there may be no more powerful weapon on Earth.”³

We need to change how we think about marketing. It’s not just about building a brand or becoming an influencer or selling a product.

It’s about spreading ideas.

And once you realize that marketing is about spreading ideas, it becomes a lot more interesting—and necessary.

Our ideas are who we are. To quote John Mark Comer again, “Our ideas coalesce to form a mental map by which we navigate reality.”⁴ They make up the stories we believe by which we live our lives.

If we believe that God has told the true story of the world and has invited disciples to live in it, then spreading the ideas that form people into disciples of Jesus is of the utmost importance.

Which means we need marketing. Not so your church can be the Christian Nike. But to tell a story more powerful than the false stories we encounter every other day of our lives.

1. Faith Speaking Understanding, Kevin Vanhoozer, 26

2. Live No Lies, John Mark Comer, 92-93

3. All Marketers Are Liars, Seth Godin, 130

4. Live No Lies, John Mark Comer, 36