The Fencepost

I’ve read only one book by Seth Godin - Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers. Entering the world of web publishing a few years ago, my manager suggested this book as a primer on how the internet was changing the way marketers gain customer loyalty and trust as a means of capturing and retaining new market share. I found the principles in the book easy to understand and Godin’s writing style helpful in alleviating my aversion to marketing talk. I’m a writer and editor. Marketing is not my language. Godin helped me overcome that deficiency. Since then Godin has become a “guru” in the marketing world, in essentially every facet of that word. It’s only been recently that his influence on modern church leadership has appeared on my radar.

When it comes to church leadership, I tend to think the Bible is the best – perhaps the only – reputable authority. I say “perhaps” because I acknowledge there are books out there that address church leadership biblically. Read my earlier post on The Trellis and the Vine for an excellent example of such a book. “Leadership” has been a major topic among the seeker-sensitive churches for years. In fact, one of the prime markers of a church I would likely avoid attending is if they regularly host or facilitate a leadership conference. There’s nothing wrong with promoting and encouraging strong leadership in churches, as long as it’s based on a biblical model. What I’ve seen of the leadership conferences in the larger churches in the U.S., however, tends to lean more toward corporate, business models.

That’s where Seth Godin comes in. Yesterday I saw two pastors of large churches in the Southeast U.S. link to this Godin blog post on alienating the 2% in their Twitter feeds. And these links were not of the, “Well, this is interesting” or “I agree with this from a business perspective” variety. They were more of the, “Every person involved in church leadership needs to read this right now!” variety. Really? It’s a brief post, so I won’t bother summarizing it here.

Your assignment: Go read it, and then come back here and answer the following questions for me. (Understand I’m operating on the assumption that the pastors who linked to this post believe that Godin’s thoughts are relevant to church leaders insofar as how they function ministerially):

1. Are “fans, followers, or customers” accurate descriptions of church members, attenders, and visitors? Why or why not?
2. If you answered the first question with a “yes,” explain how continuing to innovate and “delight the vast majority” of the people in the first question is a legitimate responsibility of church leaders. I would be particularly interested in biblical evidence for your view, specifically from any of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples or from Paul’s two letters to his young pastor and mentee, Timothy. Show me anywhere in the New Testament that anyone applauds or encourages innovation and customer satisfaction in the church.
3. Finally, regardless of your answers to the first two questions, explain how ignoring thoughtful, reasoned complaints of the “2%” would be a healthy, responsible tactic for a church leader.

Here are my cards: I’m significantly concerned that a generation of people raised on entertainment-oriented church practice has created an expectation of customer satisfaction. If that’s the case, it’s no wonder that some pastors are looking to marketing experts like Seth Godin for advice on how to run their businesses. I mean, churches.

I’m interested to know what you think. Comment below.