Handbook for the Sellout
Do you ever get the feeling that Christians are sometimes less scrupulous in marketing their ideas and programs than the secular society in general? I mean just go into any Christian bookstore and they've almost become a parody of themselves. Test-a-mints anyone? Or how 'bout a Christian energy bar made from only biblical ingredients - guaranteed to give you the strength you need to reach the lost. Now I know I sound very cynical, and I have a tendency to be too critical, but some of this stuff really bothers me. I'm all for a Christian bookstore carrying books and music that can encourage and help people grow in Christ, but sometimes I think the lure of the quick buck entices Christian marketers. In Keith Green's biography there's a part where it tells the story of him going to a Christian music festival. Someone made a comment to him about how they make so much money selling "Jesus junk". Keith was so appalled to hear the name of Jesus associated with the word "junk", and just couldn't believe that the name of Christ was treated so lightly.
What got me thinking about this was this article. I've always loved Calvin and Hobbes, and I love that Bill Watterson has rejected the offers to cheapen his work by licensing it for anything other than the comic strips and books. I think it's an interesting how that article talks about how the Chronicles of Narnia is being marketed on really every level by any means available. Did C.S. Lewis envision Aslan action figures? Now, I know that the movie is being handled by Disney, and the marketing decisions are probably not made by Christians, but they sure tried to market it to the Christian crowd. I got three or four emails from some marketing conglomerate asking me to organize groups for screenings of the movie. I'm not knocking the movie. I just wonder if Christians, evangelicals in particular, have bought into a market-driven mentality. There's a fine line sometimes between reaching your target by being relevant, or, in contrast, simply trying to be a people-pleaser. Jesus was relevant because he wasn't afraid to get involved in people's lives, but he certainly wasn't a people-pleaser. They don't crucify people pleasers.
What got me thinking about this was this article. I've always loved Calvin and Hobbes, and I love that Bill Watterson has rejected the offers to cheapen his work by licensing it for anything other than the comic strips and books. I think it's an interesting how that article talks about how the Chronicles of Narnia is being marketed on really every level by any means available. Did C.S. Lewis envision Aslan action figures? Now, I know that the movie is being handled by Disney, and the marketing decisions are probably not made by Christians, but they sure tried to market it to the Christian crowd. I got three or four emails from some marketing conglomerate asking me to organize groups for screenings of the movie. I'm not knocking the movie. I just wonder if Christians, evangelicals in particular, have bought into a market-driven mentality. There's a fine line sometimes between reaching your target by being relevant, or, in contrast, simply trying to be a people-pleaser. Jesus was relevant because he wasn't afraid to get involved in people's lives, but he certainly wasn't a people-pleaser. They don't crucify people pleasers.
posted by Phil Miller at
11:29 AM
1 Comments:
To my mind, part of the problem is that we tend to judge everything in terms of its evangelical effectiveness. I agree that Test-a-mints and the like fall into the same category as Jesus-Loves-You shotglasses and ashtrays. But I don't think Lewis would be offended at the marketing of Narnia.
C.S. Lewis never wrote the Narnia stories to be Bible stories. He even denied that they were allegorical. They were just fantastic stories that happened to reflect his particular worldview. I think he would scoff at the many folks who treat these stories with reverence approaching that of scripture. Of course he wanted them to be marketed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have published them (brother's gotta make a buck, right?). But I think he'd be more comfortable marketing through McDonald's than through your local church.
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Unknown, At
12:04 PM, February 24, 2006
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