False Advertising in the Church

Recently Christina brought ice cream bars home. After glancing at the picture on the package I excitedly ripped it open only to reveal something not quite as enticing on the inside! I still ate the ice cream bar and despite the fact that it was cold, sweet and creamy there was still a sense of dissatisfaction when I compared the real thing to what I thought I was getting on the picture.

My disappointment with the ice cream bar reminded me of the way we sometimes advertise our churches. When I hear phrases like “family friendly, contemporary services, casual dress, relaxed atmosphere, etc…” I sometimes wonder if we are not delving into false advertising. I’m not saying that any of the above mentioned are bad but I am saying that they are not central.

Here are a few ways that we can unintentionally false advertise our church.

1. Sell the side issues

What are the side issues? Things like length of the service, music style, preaching style or clothing style, over the main issues; like Jesus, sin, righteousness and true love and forgiveness.

2. Claim our church is “non-judgmental”

However, in reality the Bible judges all people and their behaviors, calls for repentance and offers forgiveness.

3. Pretend our church has a corner on the truth

It’s good to love your church but sometimes we go too far.  Although they might not do everything exactly like we do, there are other good churches out there.

4. Paint a rosy picture that makes it looks like we have the perfect church.

We live in a fallen world and the sin nature still affects believers.  The reality is that all churches have problems.  Big churches have big problems and little churches often have big problems too!   It is important to work through these problems with love and humility without losing the unity of the Spirit and without losing our testimony.

It’s ironic but I believe we need more truth in church advertising.  We must focus on the core issues, not be afraid to communicate the central message of the gospel and be honest when it comes admitting our own faults as a church.

It’s not the best way to get thousands of people through the front doors but in the long run it will help us retain those who come. It will also guard against the ever present danger of falling into the mire of socially active churches with fur lined and de-clawed presentations of the gospel which are found buried beneath piles of “self worth”, “how-to” and “finding God’s plan for your life” sermons!

Questions: Have you seen any examples of this type of false advertising? What can be done to correct it? Leave your comments below.