Click Nonprofit is a marketing agency for churches. If you are one of many people who doubt the words marketing and church can’t exist in the same sentence, we get you. In fact, I had to do a little soul-searching before I got into church marketing. In this article, we will tell you why church marketing is biblical.
For years I dreamed of leaving corporate America to write in ministry full time, but when I discovered the most likely place a writer could pay a few bills was in content marketing, I almost walked away. I fell for a bait-and-switch into a sleezy sales job after college, and it took three miserable years to get out.
Determined to never sink into the icky world of marketing again, I continued praying and learning. Then, in a sudden epiphany, I realized the only difference between my Christian mentors and the secular experts was their vernacular.
While a secular copy writer drafts an advertisement, a Christian shares their testimony. As a marketing agency publishes a press release, a church distributes devotionals. Businesses hire salespeople for expansion campaigns, and churches send missionaries for outreach. Both prioritize trust, service, and relationship-building.
Definition of Marketing
To help determine if marketing is biblical, let’s define what we are doing. According to Merriam Webster, marketing is “the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.”
In the church, we are promoting the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, which is the greatest service ever done by God for mankind. To accept the gospel and live as Jesus teaches us, we are to serve God and one another in love, which means church marketers promote a service that never ends. Zachary Leighton, founder of our sister company, Reliant Creative, describes promoting the gospel as a “proclamation of value.”
“Marketing is proclamation, it’s the proclamation of value. It’s a declaration that what you are offering can enhance the lives of others. We are called all throughout scripture to proclaim the good news, and there’s nothing on earth that can enhance the lives of others better than what Jesus has on offer.”
-Zachary Leighton
Founder & CEO, Reliant Creative
Biblical Synonyms for Marketing
While the word marketing is not in the Bible, many of its synonyms are. In fact, “Banner” is one of the names for God given in the Old Testament.
- banner
- release
- bulletin
- dispatch
- word
- story
- publication
- sign
- commercial
- pronouncement
- publicity
- testimonial
- write-up
- poster
- message
- broadcast
- report
9 Reasons Why Church Marketing is Biblical
We know what marketing is, so let’s see what the Bible has to say about it. The Bible is full of examples of marketing activities to promote the gospel. Join me on a journey from cover to cover to discover nine reasons why church marketing is biblical.
God is a Marketer
One of the first acts of marketing in the Bible is in the Book of Exodus when Moses built an altar to commemorate God’s protection from the Amalekites. Banner is a synonym for marketing, and one of the names of God is “The Lord is My Banner.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner.
Exodus 17:14-15
God Commanded Marketers in the Old Testament
The prophets had a very challenging marketing role, to warn wayward nations to repent. In the Book of Habakkuk, the Lord told Habakkuk how to send a dispatcher to spread the message.
And the Lord answered me:
Habakkuk 2:2
Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
Marketing for Future Generations
Many of the Lord’s faithful set up altars as reminders of God’s work. Like ancient, permanent billboards, the monuments proclaimed God’s goodness for future generations.
And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’. .. so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.”
Joshua 4:21-22, 24
God Sent a Marketer for Jesus
Jesus benefited from a marketer to prepare people for His coming, and in Luke 7:28, Jesus said John is the greatest man ever born.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
John 1:6-7
God Blesses Marketers with Ulterior Motives
The apostle Paul encouraged anyone who would spread the gospel, including those with impure motives. Click Nonprofit founder, Judson Aulie, explains.
“Using marketing to spread the gospel is not a new thing. Paul and the early Christians utilized the best marketing channels available to them to spread Christianity—letter writing and the Roman roads. If they refused to use the roads built by the godless Roman empire, where would Christianity have gone?
Instead of letters, we have smartphones with video content, podcasts, and more. We can now reach much farther than the Roman roads with social media, YouTube, Google Search, and even online advertising. We need to use the best marketing channels available to spread the gospel regardless of who built these channels or what evil happens on them. If that’s where the lost are, that’s where we should bring the light.”
Judson Aulie
CEO and Founder, Click Nonprofit
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
Philippians 1:15-18
Jesus’s First Marketing Team
The first marketing team was trained, organized, and mobilized by Jesus when He sent the twelve disciples to tell people the kingdom of heaven had arrived.
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them,. .. “Proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Matthew 10:5-7
Jesus Commanded All of Us into Marketing
Because we all participate in the Great Commission, most people in ministry are doing some form of marketing, whether through our spoken words or our published content.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-30
Church Marketing Is a Necessary and Beautiful Calling
Paul wrote that people can only be saved if people spread the message of the gospel, and those who do so perform a beautiful function.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Romans 10:14-15
Marketing Brings on the Fall of Satan
Testimony, another synonym for marketing, is the most powerful way to spread the gospel and expose the lies of Satan. All throughout the Bible, believers are commanded to testify about what Jesus has done. In the last days, Jesus will give our testimonies the power to defeat Satan once and for all.
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Revelation 12:11
Conclusion
Church marketing is both biblical and necessary. God is the ultimate marketer, who has revealed His value and love to us through His Word and His Son. He has called us to be His marketers, to proclaim His good news and invite others to join His kingdom.
By using the tools and strategies that God has provided us, such as the Google Ad Grant, local SEO, and online platforms, we can reach more people with the gospel. Click Nonprofit is here to help you with your church marketing needs, whether you need assistance with applying for the Google Ad Grant, optimizing your website, or creating engaging content. Contact us today and let us help you do more good for God’s glory.
