As a follow up to the billboards of the MyLameSexLife.com campaign of Granger Community Church, you can look to the news articles or to the numbers.
News
The local media loves a good controversy, so they’re giving the billboards plenty of coverage, including quotes from concerned parents:
“I was appalled. I couldn’t believe that someone would put this up, that you’d be going down the street with your children and there it is. … They’re just really inappropriate. They’re extremely provocative. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Oh, the inappropriateness of… feet. And apparently this person has never seen the ‘gentlemen’s club’ billboards that dot highways in Indiana and just about every other state.
You can find a more balanced perspective and a response from Senior Pastor Mark Beeson in an article covering the first service of the series:
“If you want to communicate in this culture, you have to use images; you have to use relevant arts…
“What we have is an entire culture immersed, bathed, in sexual images, and we must address the issue. Hollywood will set the agenda, or church will set the agenda. I like the movies, but I don’t want to form my sex life based on (them).”
The series has also drawn national media attention.
Numbers
The numbers are looking good: 7,296 for the first weekend of the series, a 70% jump from the same weekend the previous year. How often do churches see that kind of a spike in attendance?
Naysayers
Obviously numbers and news coverage aren’t the ultimate goal. But they can be a step towards that goal. You can’t change the lives of people who don’t show up.
We can also learn a lesson from the Granger folks. They’ve stuck to their guns, despite criticism like the above quote. How do they do it? They know their audience. The criticism isn’t coming from the people they’re trying to reach, so it’s not as valid. Hear the critics out, but what really matters is the target audience.
Jim from OldTruth.com
March 6, 2006
I would think it ought to be the case that, what matters is what God thinks, and not what their “target audience” or “the critics” think. Should we assume that God always favors what produces the most numeric results, or might He also care about the biblical integrity of the methods being employed to achieve those results?
Also, when “the critics” say that the billboards are sexually suggestive, I’ve noticed that those who side with Granger often change those words around to “lewd” or “obscene” in order to make the critics seem more extreme. There is a difference. These signs ARE sexually suggestive, and it’s not just those puritanic Christian critics who think that, it’s some of Granger’s neighbors (presumably non-Christians) as well.
Another question is, do the billboards use deception? This church knows that signs saying “sex talks next week at Granger” won’t work, so have they resorted to a form of trickery to get people to visit their website? Is God happy with this kind of “sneaky evangelism”?
Lastly, are the billboards using sex to “sell” a “product”? If so, is it really any different than beer and sportscar comercials who use suggestive advertising (bikini models etc.) to sell their product? The product that they are selling may be “better” than beer and cars, but it can’t be denied that they are using the same tactics that these product advertisers use.
Those are just a few things to think about with regard to these billboards.
brian
March 6, 2006
man, come on.
Did Jesus use billboards? Did Jesus even go to church?
It’s all your opinion what you think God would do. Here’s the truth…Jesus “advertised” by word of mouth. He would do a miracle, preach a sermon, etc. and people would talk. Here’s the deal now. Everyone has heard of who Jesus is. Now we have to spread the message by marketing. Even if a huge miracle happened in your church there are still people who wouldn’t come because they would be skeptical, or just wouldn’t care about us crazy, weird Christians.
I love the ad and would be proud if my church put out something like that.
bob
March 6, 2006
in response to jim, it would be a travesty to assume God is most concerned with numbers, i think we can agree on that. we know that Christ came to earth to seek and to save the lost. we know that He came to provide life, and an abundant one at that.
our Savior’s methods while here on earth were anything but conventional. while on the one hand He came to die for the sins of the world, He chose to go deeper and deeper with fewer people, humanly speaking. He preached to thousands and performed miracles for the masses, but He surrounded Himself with twelve. and of those twelve, three went up the mount of transfiguration with Him.
we serve a God who is capable of loving individuals. billions of them. equally. and He has called us to share His good news with each of them. we know that God is not willing that any should perish, but all would come to repentance. all that to say that God is interested in individuals, not numbers.
but we still must strive to reach the whole world. of course God is concerned with the integrity of our methods.
with that in mind, how do we measure the success of a campaign like this? attendance, number of professions of faith, favorable comments from the community? each of those things may be tangible and help out here and now, but the only results worth working for won’t be seen until eternity.
back on track now. as far as your concerns of trickery, deception, and sneaky evangelism- i don’t know that i agree. i see the signs as a way to pique curiosity. i have a hard time imagining somebody being upset or feeling ripped off after visiting the website after seeing the billboard. i don’t find in that billboard any promise of sex or pornography. i see a picture coupled with words that makes me want to know what is behind the picture.
i also don’t believe the billboards use sex to sell anything. they use sex (or at least the hint of it) to present a question. we both know that a life of promiscuity and indulgence will never satisfy anyone. people live their entire lives feeling empty and unfulfilled. the question being posed is “would you like help?” perhaps not in those words, but granger is reaching out to a confused and lost world. i don’t think it’s fair to say that an image of a couples feet is on the same level as a sensual picture that leaves little to the imagination. i can not for one moment believe that this image is in any way painting a picture to promote a sinful lifestlye.
Ironic
March 6, 2006
Pretty ironic that some of you have no problem with Granger’s billboards, and then we see pictures like this on your own blogs. What should that tell us about your morality standards and your credibility on this issue, Brian?
RC
March 6, 2006
Hey, ironic, way to do you’re research.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Gene Mason
March 6, 2006
Well, if the teaching is solid, Bible-centered, and the “punch line” that first-time attendees get is pointing to Christ, I actually think it is a great balance of provacative promotion and effective ministry. They’re certainly walking a line but I can’t see that they’ve crossed one.
Sometimes I look at church advertising and think, “What are they doing?” This is one where I think, “Wish I had thought of that.”
Dan
March 6, 2006
Some of the arguments against this I just find befuddling.
The campaign is attractive to people not because it “sells sex” but it communicates to people that they can gain a new perspective (one from God, btw) on an issue that’s important to them.
Just my two cents worth on a couple comments:
Of course, God is interested in numbers. He died for the whole world.
“He chose to go deeper and deeper with fewer people, humanly speaking” because he was training and equipping those guys to go into the whole world. Numbers again.
WhatAboutJudas?
March 6, 2006
Dan said: “Of course, God is interested in numbers. He died for the whole world”.
One quick question for Dan. Yes or no: Did Jesus die for Judas? Ok, two questions: Did he die for the people in Sodom who were already in Hell by the time He went to the cross?
matt
March 6, 2006
One of the things I love most about CMS is the thoughtful, articulate replies.
This one seems to be peppered with knee-jerk fLAMES, so you know it’s controversial.
No matter how you feel about this campaign, don’t jump to conclusions and let your presuppositions hurry you right past the point of this post: healthy, thought-provoking debate.
Good stuff, for the most part!
Tim
March 7, 2006
I think this ad campaign is incredible! Granger is simply trying to reach people! We talk so much about God “reaching people where they are”, yet we seem to question churches who try to do that very thing!
It’s like we’re saying that people have to conform themselves to our church culture in order to be reached. They have to say the right words, wear the right clothes, believe the right doctrine. But isn’t that missing the point? That’s where marketing comes into play.
It is true that a billboard is not going to win someone to Christ. But guess what? Neither is a sermon, in and of itself. What wins people to Christ is other people – relationships! And those who are out there with all of these questions about real-life issues are looking for real, genuine, authentic people to help answer them. And if a billboard can pique someone’s curiosity to come to a place where real issues are being talked about with a Biblical basis, then that billboard has done its job.
Those that naysay this marketing strategy – have you looked at Granger’s web site and seen what those curiosity-seekers heard that Sunday? They heard a message about rightly prioritizing your life. They heard a message that God cares about EVERY aspect of our lives, yes, even our sex lives! They heard a message that sex is only good in its proper perspective – but put in that proper perspective, it can be a beautiful thing.
God created sex. Why shouldn’t we talk about it? Because the world has perverted it? I say that’s an every BETTER reason for the church to talk about it. There are so many misperceptions about sex based on our culture that the church MUST talk about it.
How do you think that all these misperceptions came into being? I think it’s because the church has been too scared to talk about controverisal issues of the day for too long. We’ve let our culture do that for us, and we’re paying the price for it now.
I say GREAT JOB GRANGER!
Dan
March 7, 2006
“One quick question for Dan. Yes or no: Did Jesus die for Judas? Ok, two questions: Did he die for the people in Sodom who were already in Hell by the time He went to the cross?”
I guess I’ll answer since this is getting to be so much fun?
Uh, well yeah. “For God so loved the world…?” At least, that’s what Jesus said. I gues that would mean everybody, right?
Question for you. What do those questions have to do with this subject and why are we even discussing them? Isn’t this about the people in South Bend?
Dan
March 7, 2006
Check out this approach:
http://www.rockisu.com/features.asp?ID=432
RC of strangeculture
March 7, 2006
2 thoughts…
(1) Is God interested in numbers? Yes…but the power of God often attracts people to him…when we see God work, we’re attracted to him.
Thank of all the people that followed Jesus all around while he was teaching…that weren’t putting up flyers before he came and writing messages in the sand…but the power of the word of mouth spread…namely b/c they saw God work.
(2) You cannot deny that this campaign is using a sex sells strategy…I’m not critical of that b/c it’s true and part of that truth is the neccesity for lessons like this to be taught in church…but this campaign is certainly tapping into that.
Just some thoughts,
RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Kevin D. Hendricks
March 7, 2006
RC–is it really a ‘sex sells’ strategy if what you’re talking about is sex? When a beer company puts bikini-clad girls in their commercial, they’re using sex appeal to sell their product. Their product has nothing to do with the bikini girls.
But in this case the “product” is a sermon series talking about sex and purity. Maybe you could argue that the sermon series is another type of lure for another product, but in a straightforward sense, they want people to come to the sermon series on sex, so the billboard talks about sex. That doesn’t seem like a ‘sex sells’ strategy, at least not the same one the beer companies use.
Brandon Meek
March 7, 2006
If the goal of this campaign was to use a sex sells strategy, I would say that this campaign failed. Outside of the word sex, there really isn’t anything sexual about the ad. You could change the web address to mycoolsheets.com and it could be an ad for a linen company.
As I understand it though, the idea was to spark people to a message on their sex life. That is entirely different from what most of the detractors are trying to say about it. Seriously, I can see that some churches wouldn’t be progressive enough to use something like this, but its a real issue in the community and they chose to address it.
Maybe some of you would have preferred that they pursue a more clinical approach and used http://www.myunsatisfyingintercourse.com.
RC
March 8, 2006
I still maintain it’s a sex sell strategy, but not in a bad way.
When someone sees something the deals with sex they either cringe or they look at it closer…I imagine more people paid attention to this sign simply because it did say sex. It touches a taboo and people notice that.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
brian
March 8, 2006
I think it’s pretty ironic that “Ironic” would attack my character but not even list his name/website. At least I’m willing to put myself and my beliefs out there for people to see. If you can’t stand behind your own words, then the weight of those words isn’t much.
Also, in terms of my morality… wow, that is a big statement to make. I’m not sure if you can judge that.
James 4:11 says,
11Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.
Also, when speaking of “credibility” on the isssue, I’m not sure what to say to that except that everyone here has about the same credibility level since we are all viewers of the ad. All these people have their own opinions and that is what we are giving. So, I don’t see how that becomes a credibility issue unless you are more saved than I am. And since I am the worldly one, and therefore the target audience that needs to be more moral, my opinion would probably hold more weight.
Luke
March 8, 2006
Holy cow…. It is embarrasing to read these comments! Some of you guys are out of control…. Sex sells, lewd/provacative pictures, blah blah blah. First of all… they are FEET! Second of all, the website is not 1% provacative. In fact it has quite an insightful message, and leads you to the website of a great church that is dedicated to introducing people to Christ, and helping them grow into a loving relationship with Him.
I am baffeled by the thoughts of some of you that this topic doesn’t belong in church… The church is supposed to be the hope of the world (when it is functioning as it was meant to)…. Well, one of the most common areas that people need hope in their lives is in their relationships with the opposite sex. There are a lot of people out there (including you and I), whose lives have been destroyed, or severely tampered with due to ill advised sexual relations, sexual frustrations with a spouse, or a battle with pornography. Why would we not want the church to address these issues from a Biblical perspective, and explore what God has to say about such topics? Why would we want to keep people in the dark about these topics? Do we want MTV to be the primary educator of sex to our generation?
In closing, let me say this… IT IS ABOUT THE NUMBERS!! Anyone who says so is either in denial or lying… Without people you don’t have money, without money you don’t have People…. without both, you don’t have an EFFECTIVE MINISTRY! How can we say that Jesus/God is not about the numbers? He told the disciples to go unto the ends of the earth… to reach everyone, to tell everyone… If because of their message they had 1,500+ people walk through the doors of a church that shared some part of the message about God’s saving Grace, then who cares?
Maybe we all need to ask ourselves the last question in the Granger video… “Do you have an open mind” …
I’m Out
anonymous like ironic
March 8, 2006
Hey Ironic. Really? What do marble breasts have anything to do with someones opinion? They are quite large though.
jessica
March 10, 2006
Ahh Indiana…how i love thee. /sarcasm. :)
I like the campaign personally…I don’t find it offensive or appalling in any way…
chris
March 14, 2006
Guess what? It’s not about the numbers! Jesus made it hard for people to get into the kingdom – read the gospels – “Narrow is the way”. This campaign sounds a like like the “Children of God” in the 70s who used “sexy fishing” to allegedly get converts. The church’s job is to preach Christ crucified – it’s not popular but it is the gospel. Jesus is not another product to be sold in the market place. He’s the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Doing stuff like this campaign just makes the church irrelevant because it is deceptive and says we’re no different to you. When in fact we’re called to a different life – to be in the world but not of it! People will come to Jesus when they see people living lives that are authentically different – loving, caring, honouring God, turning their backs on the spirit of the world, not being consumers! Wake up America your’re destroying Christianity.
RC of strangeculture
March 15, 2006
I love this site b/c it opens up really important conversations…
Chris above is right (as I see it) in that it’s not about numbers…
I think we all know numbers are really really good but depth of relationship with God is of primary importance…a lot of shallow faithed Christians who never grow is a sad story…
but I don’t think this sort of campaign is destroying Christianity as “angry Chris” says…this is a fun opportunity for the church to get in people’s face and preach a message that people need to hear…even if it does use unique marketing tactics…
I just can only hope that the preaching and teaching is biblical and drawing people into a deeper relationship with God…not just drawing people in.
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Jim
December 20, 2006
don’t talk about sex in church? Well guess where it IS talked about? Still clueless, after all these years.
Ps115v1
March 29, 2007
David Wilkerson nailed this whole market driven movement in this clip on youtube check it out