Adam Long recently emailed this to me and some other friends and with his permission I post it here for the world to enjoy.
A disclaimer: I don’t know anything about Nelson Searcy. He’s probably a great guy who has very helpful insights. The commentary below isn’t about him or his ministry–it’s about his marketing. In fact, it’s about the way most ministry training is marketed. And it’s pretty funny.
I have a long running problem with the conflation of capitalist marketing and church life. Yes, yes, I believe in redeeming the culture. No, no, I’m not a Marxist. But I think that we may be heading down a dangerous road. And we need to think things through before diving in.
So here’s my problem. I think there’s too much similarity between marketing for “church growth” services and male enhancement products.
Please don’t dismiss this. I’m not trying to be unnecessarily provocative. I don’t completely buy Freud, but so much church growth material seems to tap a certain form of envy that strikes many males.
Just take a look at the following quotes from the attached piece, “WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT A COACHING COMMUNITY WITH NELSON SEARCY.”
- Assimilation has been huge!!!
- I was slumping in my personal growth
- This would have saved me several years of frustration
- You don’t have to be alone, do it alone
- Coaching Community gave me more confidence, competency
- Do it! It is worth exponentially more than the fees!
- Don’t miss this opportunity to grow yourself
I’ve heard people compare TBN to the Home Shopping Network. It’s so easy to make fun of others as long as their religious style differs from ours. But what happens when “our” groups sound like Enzyte comercials? Seriously? What do we do?
The uber-witty Anthony Scoma replied:
That is hilarious, but you missed the best line, My being challenged as a leader has raised “the bar” for leaders in our church.