"Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Communications majors." Because, if they do, there's probably more than a fair chance that they're going to end up in Marketing and goodness knows that none of us in Marketing really have a clue what we're doing. Oh, we may pretend to. We may haul out statistics and demographics and sociographics and cluster groups but, when it gets right down to it, ascertaining predictable behavior for consumer response to marketing efforts is little more than educated guessing and that boils down pretty much to a crapshoot, which is something that Marketing people do a lot -- shoot the crap.

How do you like them apples?

Of course, there is one oft-quoted adage of Marketing which really sort of guides us all and, certainly, it is very true -- sell the sizzle, not the steak. What this boils down to is selling the emotional benfits of a product, not the actual product. The sooner you can get the consumer emotionally involved in the decision-making process, the better.

Let's go back to the steak analogy. Have you ever been to a really nice steakhouse? They don't sell steak by telling you how many grams of protein and fat it has, how many calories it has, how it will fuel your body, etc. -- do they? No, in fact, the really expensive places simply bring out a bunch of raw meat and let you ooo and ahhh over it. They get you really salivating and then let you choose what you want. They have clearly taken you from a standpoint of logic to a standpoint of emotion. You can smell and possibly even hear others' steaks cooking. You see them being carried through the dining room to the various customers. You're not buying sustenance, you're buying the entire experience and emotional benfit. However, it is out of their emotional realm that people will change. Logic rarely provides enough impetus for the human mind (or heart) to change. But emotion will.

A couple of years ago, I approached our senior pastor about me possibly doing a presentation on Marketing for the church staff. How do you "Market" church? Is it wrong to even think about Marketing church? If it is done properly, I certainly don't think so. In fact, I think it is exactly what God calls us to as His witnesses.

Our senior pastor graciously agreed to let me do this and we selected a date. For some reason, though, I had a conflict come up and ended up cancelling at the last minute. Then I later sort of him-hawed around and never got another date set. That was my fault. Sometime we need to get back on this idea though.

So, how do you "market" church? Well, it has to go back to that old axiom -- sell the sizzle, not the steak. We all have emotional needs and, dare I say, we are all fairly emotionally fragile. Out of that fragility can come change. On the other hand, we all feel relatively stable from a logic stand point. And that stability is not conducive to change.

I see churches put up signs or run advertisements that say things like "Jesus Saves," "Experience God Here," "Exciting Worship," or "Inspiring Praise Team." Those things do nothing to prompt someone to change. They all speak to logic and, if one feels relatively stable from a logic standpoint (which we pretty much all do), then we're not going to respond to signs or advertisements that say such things. Our emotion -- our heart -- is left untouched.

That goes back to why personal invitation has historically been the best way to get a new person to church. And I am all for that. I am not arguing that personal invitation isn't effective. It is. But it is effective because the personal plea starts to play on the invited's emotions ... and they respond to that. For one thing, they may simply not want to hurt your feelings by saying "no". That gets them emotional and causes action on their part.

But then we only keep them in church if we can keep them on the emotional side until logic starts to set in. That is a job all its own but still based on the same thing I am talking about -- exciting people with the sizzle (and, of course, hoping that they also start to receive some steak then which starts to change their logical side.)

So, what is the "sizzle" about church? What is the "sizzle" for you? How did God "get" you? Chances are it came in the form of something very emotionally-laden. Life was overwhelming you. God was speaking to you. You felt enslaved. These are the things that prompt most of us to really seek God and effect change in our lives.

So, what should we do when "marketing" church? Sell the sizzle, of course! Talk about Mission, Vision, and Changed Lives. Use advertising and public relations to tell and share those stories of life transformation. Show the change from frustration and enslavement to freedom in Christ. Those are the things that will send someone into the emotional realm and cause them to seek something different. Search for their pain, use personal stories to show the church's relevancy to them and to their pain, and welcome them on a personal journey of compassionate acceptance and grace.