"The Cross and Marketing 101"

Proverbs 16:6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns away from evil.

From a business perspective, when you have a product you are trying to sell or market there are certain fundamental principles that you must follow if you are going to have any measure of success. One of the key principles would be, as you market your product to the public make sure you take out anything that the target audience would find verbally or visually offensive. Therefore, great care is given to, choosing the right colors on the packaging, finding a jingle that people can relate to etc. Overall the goal is to make sure the product is visually appealing to as large an audience as possible so they will at least stop and consider the product as it sits on the shelf. The bottom line is if you are going to market a product successfully it must appeal to the masses and not be offensive.

It is precisely for this reason that the church is not in the marketing business. We must never make the grave and tragic error of trying to market the cross.
The reality is that the cross is offensive. Paul in Galatians talks about the offense of the cross.

In Corinthians Paul says 1Co 1:18 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God

When we try to market the cross and make it more appealing we destroy it’s power.

1Co 1:17 = For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Paul was not willing to compromise the message of the cross to accommodate his audience. Yes, you may get a bigger crowd, one that is not offended but you have a powerless message. People embrace a cross that is powerless to save them. They think they are saved but are still lost and under the judgment of God. Why because the cross has been stripped of it’s power. How did that happen. It was stripped of that which makes it offensive, foolish. .
The cross repels men at first.

• The Cross says all have sinned
• The Cross calls men to repentance,
• The Cross brings men and women face to face with the truth that all our good deeds are as filthy rags in God’s eyes.
• The Cross is a message that says for God so loved He gave his only begotton son Jesus Christ to die in my place, to bear God’s wrath for my sin.
  
• The Cross is a message that slays man’s pride.

And for many this is offensive. But this is the message and for those who will embrace it through faith, it is the power of God unto salvation..

George Bernard said it so well – “IN THAT OLD RUGGED CROSS, STAINED WITH BLOOD SO DIVINE, A WONDROUS BEAUTY I SEE; FOR TWAS ON THAT OLD CROSS JESUS SUFFERED AND DIED TO PARDON AN SANCTIFY ME.”

Do we want to see lives changed? It is going to be through the message of the cross powerfully and truthfully preached, In our pulpits and through our lives. Paul gloried in the cross, he boasted only in the cross. May we do likewise. We were not left here to market the cross, we were left here to proclaim the message of the cross . A message that offends many but transforms and saves those who believe. Remember - Whatever obscures the cross deprives it if it’s power.
By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for. These are found at the Cross of Jesus Christ.