Junk Mail

In the years Daniel was here, he always had my back. I never realized the amount of junk mail our church received until he left town, and I got to sift through it. The other day, I received a card that said:

The 4 most powerful words you can say about Greenville Grace Brethren Church are...

..."10 Years of Experience."

Apparently, just the fact that we've survived generates the four most powerful words about our place. "Hey, I guess when Jesus said, 'I will build My church,' He really meant it, and He's been doing it. See, I have the seal to prove it."

Oddly, since this ad is a bulk production and sent out to mostly businesses, it also states:

Your 10 years of valuable experience can be the single most important factor for others when they are deciding where to spend their money.

Sadly, I wonder if that was the sentence that caught some pastors' eyes.

In the end, they make one last push for their product through flattery:

P.S. Send No Money. As an organization that's been successful for 10 years, your credit is good with me.

Clearly, this ad is usually sent out to businesses. I don't expect a secular resource to come to me with theological accuracy (In fact, I would suggest the Biblical thing is to expect secular resources to NOT have biblical accuracy).

These sort of marketing business techniques are visible. But what other practices do we borrow that assume success to be something it isn't, or assume the power for success to come from somewhere it shouldn't? Daniel used to be able to protect me from receiving this type of mail. Of course, the Word of God is what can protect us from accepting this sort of philosophy.

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*I am not critiquing the use of these seals. If your church is using/has used them, I am not condemning that. (The caption for the graphic is purely in jest.) However, if you bought the seals believing this is the way God desires to build His church...I am critiquing that.