THE RISE AND FALL

MARKETING THE GOSPEL

I Corinthians 1:18-25

The Gospel makes sense through the experience of personal transformation and the witness of the church.

A sermon pr= eached by

Rev. Willia= m O. (Bud) Reeves

First Unite= d Methodist Church

Hot Springs, Arkansas

January 27,= 2008

Several= years ago there was a brand of dog food called Snappy Dog Food. One year they had their annual convention in Nashville, TN.&n= bsp; At the big company banquet, the president of Snappy Dog Food got up = and talked to all the representatives from all over the country, and they were = all fired up about their product, Snappy Dog Food.

Then the vice-president of sales stepped up to the microphone. In his best pep-rally voice, he sh= outed, “What dog food do the majority of veterinarians recommend?”

Everyone shouted back, “Snappy!”

The sal= es manager continued, “What brand of dog food contains the best all-natu= ral ingredients?”

Again t= he group responded, “Snappy!”

He was = working the sales force to a fever pitch: “What brand of dog food has the best state-of-the-art advertising campaign?”

You wou= ld have thought it was a football game. They cheered, “SNAPPY!”

Then the vice-president of sales lowered the boom: “So why are our sales down = 13% over the last year?” No= t a sound came forth. Dead silenc= e. All these dog food cheerleaders be= gan to feel their ties get tight around their necks. Several glasses tinkled as district sales managers reached for a drink. Nobody said a word. Ex= cept for one little boy—a red-headed, freckle-faced kid from Athens, GA, who had come up with his dad to the convention. He was sitting on the front row of tables, waving his hand like crazy. The vice-president tried to ignore him, but he was right there, wavi= ng both arms like he was signaling a ship, so he had to recognize him.

The boy= spoke into the microphone and said, “I know, mister! I know!”

“= Know what, son?” the man said.

“= I know why Snappy Dog Food sales are down 13% in the last year.”

The vice-president chuckled and said, “Then why don’t you tell us t= he reason?”

The boy= turned to the audience and simply said, “Dogs don’t like it.”

That is= a key ingredient in the business world, isn’t it? Whether you’re selling dog f= ood or donuts or doorbells, you have to pay attention to the customers’ desi= res. You have to satisfy the consumer i= f you want to be successful. You ha= ve to offer then something that corresponds to their system of values so they will buy your product.

When we= apply that understanding to our faith or our church, we run into a problem. How do you market a product that is fundamentally at odds with the value system of the consumer culture? We have a faith based on an unmark= etable concept: a crucified Messiah. To a world intent on fulfilling its own needs, this is foolishness. Like dogs that don’t like Sn= appy, how do you make sinful, selfish people want Jesus?

Daniel Yankelovich, the pioneer in social science, says our contemporary culture h= as an “ethic of self-fulfillment.” In earlier times, people had to pr= actice self-denial just to survive. Necessities were hard to come by. People sacrificed present pleasure= s for the sake of future rewards or for future generations. That’s the ethic that made <= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">America= great.

But now, according to Yankelovich, especially among adults born after World War II, = the prevailing spirit is self-fulfillment.&nbs= p; Our primary responsibility is to ourselves; we have a moral obligati= on to be happy. You’ve see= n the bumper sticker, “We are spending our children’s inheritance.” Well, why not? We have a right to be prosperous!

But wha= t do Christians preach? What is the faith of the Scripturally-based church?&nb= sp; Paul says, “We preach = Christ crucified.”[1] Jesus, the object of our faith, sa= id, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> For those who want to save their l= ife will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.&#= 8221;= = [2] A crucified Christ who calls us to self-sacrifice—can you imagine a more unmarketable concept?

Paul ca= lled it foolishness, silliness, absurdity, depending on which translation you read. The message of the cros= s was just as unmarketable in his day and time.&= nbsp; The conflict between the values of the world and God is not new. To preach a crucified Messiah was a stumbling block to Jews; they believed anyone who was crucified was cursed = by God, certainly not the Messiah anointed by God. A suffering God was absurd to the Gentiles; they believed in a God of cool, impassive rationality. No god would writhe in agony on the cross. No messenger from heav= en would say something as blunt as “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come nea= r; repent, and believe in the good news.”[3] Please give us something more sophisticated!

How are= we supposed to live with the ethic of Jesus in a world seeking self-fulfillmen= t, where the heroes of our culture are movie stars and musicians and sports figures making mega-bucks? I = like the story of a conversation between two men who were part of a small-group = Bible study. They were discussing personal commitment to Christ and how to translate that into their everyday lives, their relationships, and their business affairs. One man asked, “What would h= appen to me if I tried to carry on my business as Christ would want me to? It might mean financial ruin!̶= 1;

His fri= end thought for a moment, then said, “What will happen if you don’t? What kind of ruin do you want?”

The rea= lly ridiculous thing is, Jesus believes his ethic, his lifestyle, is the best w= ay to live. It’s an attrac= tive option. Jesus says that if we= will share his gospel, then people will come to him and believe in him. He told his disciples, “’I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind = of death he was to die.”[4] Jesus promised that if we continue= to lift up the crucified Messiah, people will be drawn to him. Do we believe that? Of course we do!

Then ho= w can we communicate the gospel of a crucified Christ in a culture seeking self-fulfillment, a society “hellbent on destruction,” as Eugene Peterson translates?[5] How = do we lift up the cross in a culture that only wants to wear the crown?

In a se= nse, it’s a moot question. It doesn’t make any difference; we don’t have another gospel to share. This is the good news = of Jesus Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God to those who are being saved. This has been revealed= to us. Jesus is the Way, the Tru= th, and the Life. This is GodR= 17;s Way, whether or not it fits in with the spirit of the times. It never has.

Insisti= ng on proclaiming a crucified Christ means some people won’t get it. Others won’t buy it. They will not like it. They won’t believe that a 2,= 000-year-old prophet can relate to the contemporary world. Some people will not adopt a lifes= tyle that includes self-denial and sacrifice.&n= bsp; Jesus Christ himself had people turn away from him. Remember the rich young ruler? He had followed the Law of Moses scrupulously. Jesus could see= his possessions were coming between him and God; he told the young man to sell = all he had and give it to the poor. The rich young ruler walked away.

Fred Cr= addock, retired professor of preaching at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, was prese= nt in church one day when a young woman came forward at the end of the service.&nb= sp; Fred knew her; she was bright, in her 20’s, very active in the church. She came forward duri= ng the hymn of commitment, when people normally come forward to join the church. But she was already a good church member; she must have had a religious experience and wanted to rededicate h= er life. She asked for the micro= phone, and the pastor handed it to her, expecting a word of testimony. But the young woman said, “I’m turning it in. I want you to know it’s not you people; it’s not this church; it’s Christianity. I= 217;ve tried it; I’ve made every effort.&nb= sp; But with the same sincerity that I joined four years ago, I now want= my name removed from the roll of those called Christian.” She handed the microphone to the p= astor and walked out.

The min= ister just stood there in shock and embarrassment. What do you do? Stick out your hand and say “Congratulations”? No… The simple f= act is, because faith is a choice as well as a call, and because we preach a crucified Christ, some will choose not to be Christian. Some won’t buy it.

The onl= y thing that sells the cross, the only thing that makes it marketable, is personal experience. We are not sellin= g a product like dog food. What t= he church is offering the world is an experience, a relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ that brings hope and love and joy and peace and eternal l= ife—not self-fulfillment, but real fulfillment!&nb= sp; But you don’t know that until it happens to you. And you can’t market the con= cept until you can tell the world, “It works for me.”

Charles Granderson Finney was a young man in the 1800’s who had many gifts, b= ut no faith. A brilliant mind, a= quick wit, an ear for music, he was a natural-born leader. But he was not a Christian. In fact, he used h= is exceptional mental powers to poke fun at Christians. Charles Finney was a l= aw student, and he kept noticing in his law books how the Bible was quoted with reverence and authority. So he began to study the Bible as a tool for his law practice.

The dee= per Charles Finney got into the Scripture, the more he began to see that there = was a truth in Jesus Christ much deeper than the shallow Christianity of his peers. One day he plugged up = the keyhole so nobody could eavesdrop, and he got down on his knees in his law office and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. He dedicated himself to the God of= Holy Scripture, and within a week Charles Finney was sharing his new-found faith with the people of his town. = The combination of his natural gifts and his experience of faith gave him the p= ower to become one of the great preachers of the 19^th century.

This is= the mystery, the strange paradox that we have to communicate, that the path to self-fulfillment is ultimately empty. But in giving ourselves and taking up our own cross, we are fulfille= d in ways that are beyond description. This is good news: the cross does meet our deepest needs. Faith= in Jesus the Crucified brings security and an inner peace that passes all understanding. We don’t understand it; it doesn’t make sense; we can’t reason it out. But we can experience it, because it’s real. As Paul put = it, “to those who are the called,= both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”= = [6]

Let me = make one final point with you today. We’ve been saying that what makes the cross believable to Christians is the inner experience of faith. But what makes the cross believabl= e to the world is a community of power that witnesses to the infectious love of Christ. Christians are the go= spel’s greatest asset—and its worst enemy.&= nbsp; Mahatma Gandhi, a Hindu, once said, “I like your Christ, I do = not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”= = [7] I wish that were not as true as it= is. But when the church is filled with= people who have experienced the inner transformation of faith, that kind of fellow= ship attracts all those people who have discovered how empty the promise of self-fulfillment is. Remember= the promise Jesus made, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, wi= ll draw all people to myself.”

Bishop = William Willimon of Alabama was visiting one tim= e with Bishop Emilio de Carvalho, the leader of the Ang= olan Methodist Church in Africa. Willimon asked how the church was = doing, since at the time the country was controlled by an officially atheistic Mar= xist government. The bishop said, “We are doing fine. The church is growing at the rate of about 10% a year, though some other denominations are growing even faster.” Willimon asked what would happen i= f the government decided to crack down on the growing number of Christians. Bishop de Carvalho said, “We= will keep meeting. It is their job= to be the government, our job to be the church.&= nbsp; Our church had its most rapid growth during the revolution when so m= any of our members were in jail. = Jail is a wonderful opportunity for evangelism.” Then the African bishop seemed to realize what was behind Willimon’s question, and he made this very interesting statement: “Don’t worry about us, brother. We are doing fine in Angola.= Frankly, I would find it much more difficult to be a pastor in [America].”

That doesn’t make sense, does it? Hard to be the church in the land of the free and the home of the complacent? It doesn’t = make sense, but then neither does the good news of the crucified Messiah. Nevertheless, I can testify today = that this gospel is true! It’s ju= st that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of the crucified Messiah is stronger than any human attempt at self-fulfillment.

When th= e church begins to take that seriously, when we become a community of power through = the personal transformation of Jesus Christ, then we won’t have to worry about marketing the gospel, because Christ will be lifted up, and all people will be drawn to him. Amen!

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