Instant gratification has been given a bad name these days. If it is immediately pleasing, it must not be good for you.
How does the saying go, “Good things come to those who wait.”
So is the idea of anything good that appears immediately wrong?
While that may be true for many things, instant gratification for the marketer rocks!
That is why marketing peeps like the internet. It provides everything at lightning speed. You can measure, make changes, try new things, abandon a project and start over, whatever you want…all with the blink of an eye.
A good friend once said that internet marketing is like drinking from a fire hose!
As I think about the church, I wonder if we’ve taken on this instantly gratifying approach?
• We want bigger numbers in the worship service…now
• We want bigger numbers in bible study…now
Is this wrong? Is the approach wrong?
What is good for internet marketing, is probably not good for the church.
The church uses the marketing strategies they know best like direct mail, programs, flyers, inserts, etc to “sell” the church.
They create program after program to reach everyone. Choirs and groups and studies and this and that. You name it and there is a program designed to reach it.
These methods often only accomplish surface level results. People may come once, but there is no lasting change.
People need community before commitment. Without community, they visit and leave… never to return again.
We need to get beyond the surface if we want to reach people for Christ. So rather than spending time, energy and resources on surface level marketing, how about drilling down and engaging your audience through personal connections.
• Empower your people to start a small group at work.
• Encourage your people to start a new couples small group with their neighbors.
• Empower your people to reach out to people in need.
• Encourage discipleship through accountability groups.
These are not “quick fix” programs, but life changing, powerful connections where lives are transformed and people are changed by the power of Jesus Christ. It becomes a place where people can be transparent. A place where people can be real.
It is through the power of people connecting with other people that we form community. Through community people connect and only then will they commit.
Sitting in your pew now becomes an option for them. Only now. Not before. Only now.
