Customer Reviews

Branded: Sharing Jesus with a Consumer Culture

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tim Sinclair believes Christians have a problem. With an introduction sub-title like "pretending or living?" it is not hard to see where he is going. Following up with the quote, "It's weird. I'm a Christian, and even I don't like us very much," removes all doubt. Sinclair says "many Christians have an `-ing' problem. We're pretty good at say-ing, but not so good at do-ing. We're pretty good at act-ing, but not so good at be-ing. We're pretty good at pretend-ing, but not so good at truly liv-ing." (11) Simply put, many Christians, intentionally or not, are hypocrites.

According to the author, Christians have failed to address the situation at a heart level. Instead, Christians have attempted to address this problem by adopting a superficial "branding" approach, complete with "Christian" bumper stickers, slogans, bracelets, etc. So what does Sinclair offer as an alternative approach? Questions. Rather than laying out a definitive plan of action, Sinclair's contribution to this discussion is to illustrate several facets of the problem, leaving the reader to consider various ways to address the problem. As he puts it, "Branded, by design, is a pep talk, not a playbook. It's motivation, not mechanics. It's inspiration, not instruction. It's the start of a very long, perhaps never-ending, discussion that's desperately needed." (15)

The remainder of the book is the author's attempt to illustrate his claim that Christians have taken a superficial approach to a heart-level problem. Further, Sinclair illustrates the situation in such a way as to lead the reader toward discovering practical ways of addressing this issue. Sinclair's use both of wildly creative and vividly descriptive language can have the reader laughing out loud at one moment due to his choice of words, yet cringing under the weight of conviction at the very next moment due to the accuracy with which he paints a not-so-pretty picture of the way many Christians live from day to day.

Sinclair offers twelve chapters describing different ways Christians have wrongly gone about "marketing Jesus." In each case he offers at least a critique, if not a corrective, for each approach, often illustrating his point with some kind of effectively used marketing strategy from the secular arena (i.e. Apple's use of white headphones as a unique brand identifier). In the end, rather than offering hard and fast prescriptions for correcting Christians' failed attempts to superficially "brand" their Christianity, Sinclair takes the approach of offering some "food for thought" questions, causing the reader to consider possible ways to "market" a more authentic Christianity before a skeptical, watching world. Above all else, Sinclair wants to see Christians living lives that are "branded" by Jesus Christ - transformed by the power of the Gospel - instead of simply applying superficial "Christian" "brands" to mask their inauthentic lives.

I believe much of what Sinclair does in this book is fresh and healthy. He uses his creativity and artistic expression to address this issue in a way that will force people to think outside their stereotypical Christian box. The consistency with which he maintains the "branding" and "marketing" concept, however, may prove to limit his overall effect upon his audience, as some readers may simply find the concept of "marketing Jesus" so far out of the box that they reject it out-of-hand. In some ways, this response would simply serve to illustrate Sinclair's point, that many Christians have a commitment to a stale, lifeless Christianity that refuses to adapt to today's contemporary culture and in so doing renders itself voiceless and impotent for impacting people who do not know Christ.

One problem, for me, is found in Sinclair's concluding chapter. In calling for Christians to think outside the box in terms of how they express their Christianity to a watching world, some of Sinclair's suggestions, in my opinion, swing the pendulum too far. For instance, he asks, "What if we created our own, personal churches for the next month?" suggesting that people could invest their "time for the next few weeks in being a part of the church without going to a church." (111) While I strongly agree that Christians need to leave their "holy huddles" and lay aside a "fortress" mentality of gathering at the church building to remove themselves from the "wicked world" into which we are called to go as salt and light, I do not believe an appropriate alternative can ignore the biblical admonition not to forsake our gathering together. (Hebrews 10:25) The solution need not be either-or. It can be both-and; gathering corporately for vibrant worship of our great God and then intentionally going forth with passion and conviction to live as Christ-followers in the world. Again, in his suggestions, Sinclair is not seeking to be prescriptive, but simply to make people think outside the box. I would just add that our goal should be to get people out of their "religious rut" box, while not encouraging them to consider possible alternatives that would take them outside the biblical box.

One other problem is that the book seems to suggest that many more people would come to Jesus if His followers were not as ineffective at "marketing" Him. This kind of idea fails to acknowledge the necessity of the Holy Spirit in drawing people to a relationship with Christ. I do not at all think the author believes a person comes to Christ simply by being overwhelmed at our example of living for Christ. Sinclair could have simply been more straightforward in making the Holy Spirit's role clear, while at the same time encouraging Christians to consider the ways in which their lives might be a hindrance to, and not winsome for, people facing the issue of trusting Christ.

Overall, I think this book is a pretty good illustration of how to contextualize the biblical Gospel in a contemporary way, using a theme such as branding/marketing to challenge Christians to live the Gospel in an authentic and winsome way before a hurting and watching world.

It took me one day to read this book. I might take another day to go back and read it again to soak in the message.

Tim Sinclair asks the question: How Do We Market Jesus?

In this consumer culture, how do we tell others about Jesus effectively?

If you're like a majority of Christians (or people in general) you don't get too excited when you hear the word, marketing. And Christians have been raised to object to the idea of "marketing Jesus". It's not like we're selling him they might say.

I felt the same way. And I think I still do to some extent; but after reading Branded, I was confronted with the reality of the times and since we are in postmodern times, it bodes well to understand how the term, marketing, has been assumed to mean something not so positive.

The chapters are very short which helped speed me through the book.

Tim offers words of wisdom via companies that weren't sure how to change with the times (i.e. Circuit City, Movie Gallery, Walden Books). He suggests that Christians need to change tactics but keep the message. Try letting go of the "turn or burn" tracts or the megaphone screaming.

I found this book exciting as I endeavor to lead people to sharing their experience with Jesus.

The What If chapter was good enough for the entire book. Tim offers ideas as questions to spur your creative juices and some of them are explosive:

What if we sold our church building and rented a theater or school to help save resources, what if we went to a bar with our friends one Saturday a month (seeing as we want them to come into our place, why not enter into theirs as well.)

This is a terrific book.

This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Kregel Publishing.

Hmm. Youngish husband with kids (the voice of experience to singles about the kinds of discussions old married folks have--ahem), professional marketer, PK*, immersed in Protestant church culture from an early age exhorts 21st-century Christians to relate authentically (always advisable), drop off-putting Christian jargon (of course) to reach unbelievers around them--in short, to market Jesus differently.

This book is part of a growing genre of popular titles from Christian publishers encouraging the development of caring, honest relationships with those outside the Church. Important and beneficial, naturally. What distinguishes this title from the others is the marketing rhetoric. On occasion, ideas seem forced to fit neatly into this theme. And while the author explains his rationale for using the words marketing and Jesus in the same breath . . . it can be disconcerting. I was uncomfortable with ad world language used to describe One who is the spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19), One who is the radiance of God's glory (Hebrews 1:3). The author may suggest I'm missing his point. I'm not.

As someone whose upbringing and cultural milieu is markedly different from the author's . . . as someone who regularly relates to those who consider Christianity irrelevant (and offensive) . . . as someone whose interest in the book's subject matter is more than passing, I didn't resonate with several of the author's assumptions about Jesus' followers today. Perhaps my experiences are the exception and his are the rule.

Of course (as the author reminds us), we're to be all things to all people (more about this in a moment). The gospel may come as an offense . . . we just need to ask God for help in making sure we're not the offense (which, I'm guessing, is the author's main point, though he didn't say it that way).

However, some things can't be "marketed" differently, consumer culture aside. Some truths will never be popular no matter how they are branded/packaged/marketed . . . whatever word one chooses to use. (The author maintains it's just semantics. Not always.) The New Testament is replete with examples of preaching an unpopular gospel . . . unpopular regardless of how culturally relevant the presenters were. And sometimes (again Scripture contains examples) there are occasions when authentic relationships aren't a prerequisite for "sharing Jesus" (though one could argue how short or long it takes to develop authenticity). And that's where things get tricky. One person sees an issue as supra-cultural. Another sees no room to budge. One person's "I need to wait until I have more of a relationship with so-and-so before I share Jesus," or "I do it without words," is another's "now is the time, what are you waiting for?"

Churches in countries outside the United States are growing . . . often where persecution is greatest. A pure gospel is being preached. The Good News is the power of God for salvation. We need to be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water (irrelevant forms, off-putting lingo). No doubt, the author would agree . . . but I didn't get that from the text. God has always used fallible believers who bungle things--in every age and culture, consumer and otherwise--to bring people to himself. From the text, one might glean that the drop in Protestant church attendance is merely due to faulty methods of communication and archaic forms. Revamp your methods and churches will fill up. Not. Other influences abound.

Other issues I found problematic in a book about communicating the Good News (isn't that what "Sharing Jesus"--the book's subtitle--means?):

What was *glaringly* missing from the text were any words about the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing people to God. From the author's explanations, one would think that everything is up to Jesus' followers. Market Him correctly, think outside the box in the way you relate to the culture around you and you'll see results. There was no mention of ongoing spiritual battles, that the minds of unbelievers are blinded by the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4).

Relating authentically, relating in love and being all things to all people are not novel concepts. (Though I do take issue with the author's statement that 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 might be written differently today. Au contraire, Mr. Sinclair. That kind of thinking leads to spiritualizing Scripture. Paul's heart for his Jewish people is evident throughout his writings. A Gentile Christian writer, having grown up in a Midwestern Protestant enclave, with perhaps, little association with other cultures, including Jewish people would--not surprisingly--make a statement such as that one.)

But the omissions didn't surprise me. The author isn't a pastor, isn't a theologian, isn't a missiologist, isn't an experienced evangelist . . . he's a marketer. (That gives him a unique perspective but it also means he misses crucial aspects of the issue.) What surprised me was how Kregel's editorial department missed seeing the importance of including certain scriptural truths in this text about "sharing Jesus."

Sinclair states from the get-go that his book is a "pep talk" and "not a playbook." But his audience may not read the text with his understanding of the gospel message. He's not specifically telling people how to do it, or what to say . . . just tossing out food for thought. Some of the morsels are tasty and flavorful . . . thoughtful and bold ideas--beneficial for those who've been trained to stick to a formulaic gospel presentation or are clueless about moving beyond established comfort zones. His wit comes through when he describes, for instance, prayers for "traveling mercies." And there were several laugh-out-loud descriptions of pompously pious attitudes.

Despite its faults and the author's blind spots, I give the book 3 stars. While Sinclair's ideas for authentic relating and suggestions for moving into the worlds of others have been presented elsewhere, there are many for whom the discussion will be new and thought-provoking. The book seems to be written for a twenty/young thirty-something audience.

*pastor's kid

A complimentary copy was provided for review by the publisher, Kregel Publications.

The Metro Detroit area has a movement entitled EACH - Everyone A Chance to Hear www.eachtoday.com wherein 550 churches and ministries have joined together to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. So evangelism has been at the forefront of my mind and the minds of many in this region. So I was intrigued by the debut book from Tim Sinclair, `Branded: Sharing Jesus With a Consumer Culture.'

Here is the synopsis of this interesting book:

How Do We Market Jesus? We sport "Jesus Saves" bumper stickers on our cars and "WWJD" bracelets on our wrists. We post Bible verses on our Facebook profiles and Tweet profound quotes from Christian thought leaders. But when it comes to sharing our faith verbally, we become tongue-tied.

What would life look like if we stopped mass-producing Jesus and started marketing our faith by sharing relationally, from person to person? Using examples from our consumer culture, Tim Sinclair shows Christians that sharing Jesus has nothing to do with our trinkets or our t-shirts. It has everything to do with being personally branded by Jesus. With being permanently marked by our Savior.

Witty but true, Branded offers motivation and inspiration to put our God above our gadgets and to share our faith in ways that are honest, authentic, and - most importantly - effective.

Here is the biography of this author:

Tim Sinclair is a husband to Heather, and father to Jeremiah and Elijah, and (for the past three years) a co-host to Pam on the duo's daily radio show. "Mornings with Tim and Pam" is heard by hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois and Indiana on Family Friendly WBGL, and is one of the top Christian morning shows in the country. The two have been nominated for "Air Personalities of the Year" at the ECHO Awards in Orlando, Florida.

Tim is a pastor's kid who briefly attended the University of Illinois before getting into radio and marketing full-time in 1998. Since then, he has helped write, voice, and produce commercials that have been heard on thousands of radio stations around the world. Some of his past clients include McDonald's, Word Records, Moody Publishers, and KSBJ/Houston. Tim and his family live in Illinois.

To connect with Tim: follow him on Twitter [...], on Facebook [...] or visit his website [...].

In the book's Preface, Tim shares his reason for writing this book:

I'm convinced that when it comes to sharing Jesus to and with the world around us, it's critical that we recognize our own unique situations, talents, abilities - and then effectively use them to reach people within our individual spheres of influence. Other than the boundaries and guidelines provided by the Bible, nothing else should create a game plan for us because there is no right way for anything. There is no one-size-fits-all methodology.

I'll set the background, and you take it from there. (p. 10)

In the Introduction, he shares why it's so important that we share Jesus with those we know rather than to strangers on a street corner:

Your impact (and mine) on our friends, family, and co-workers has nothing to do with the sayings on our bumpers or the symbols around our necks. It has nothing to do with the number of Bible verses we tweet or the biblical names we give our kids. It has nothing to do with how many times we go to church or how often we put our money in the offering plate.

Rather, sharing Jesus with today's culture has everything to do with being personally branded by Christ. With being permanently marked by our Savior. I can't promise you the process won't hurt a little, but I can promise you that it will be well worth it. (p. 12)

Tim shares the reason he thinks we as Christians are failing to reach the lost:

What's the bottom line? Christians often try to change a person's culture rather than let God change her heart. We try to force others to act like us, with the hope that they'll eventually believe live us. That's entirely backward. Heart changes lead to changes in actions, not the other way around.

In many cases, I think these Christian tendencies are a form of self-preservation. We would rather bring people onto our turf (where we're comfortable) than step onto someone else's. We would rather alter their lifestyle, culture, and habits, instead of change our routine. Subconsciously maybe we fear we'll be eaten alive if we venture outside what we consider safe territory.

Jesus is bigger than the Christian culture-bubble you and I have put Him in. He can reach people anytime, anywhere. Not just Sunday morning at 9:30. Not just when people have started doing or saying the "right" things. Not just once people have turned their back on their culture. (p. 45)

I have to admit that I used to follow that line of reasoning - that we needed to change the culture. It is now clear to me that Tim's assessment is the accurate one. We need to present Jesus to people, and let Him do the work in their heart.

Clearly, Jesus is not the problem when it comes to sharing Him with others:

When it comes to Jesus, I think it's safe to say the product isn't the problem. Jesus offers comfort for the brokenhearted. Rest for the weary. Strength for the weak. Healing for the sick. Peace for the stressed. Hope for the hopeless. I don't know of a person who couldn't use these things once in a while.

So the evaluation process must move on to Jesus' marketing team. Us. You and me. It's hard to admit sometimes but Christians (as a whole) are ruining the world's appetite for Jesus. We are often the ones standing in the way of Christ, despite our best efforts to lead people to Him. (p. 50)

Tim makes an important point about another reason why Jesus is rejected:

I firmly believe that at least 90 percent of life's problems are a result of unmet expectations. We get the most frustrated, the most hurt, the most offended, when our theories don't live up to our realities. And that's exactly what happened with Tiger [Woods]. Because of the picture Tiger painted of himself, our society had high expectations for him, and ultimately those expectations were not met. (p. 102)

I admit I was extremely disappointed last week about a particular situation. The reason was that I had unrealistic expectations. We need to be so careful that we don't paint an unrealistic picture of one's life as a Christian. We still will have trials; however, Jesus will help us through them.

In the Conclusion, Tim makes this important point about follow-up:

While Branded has relied heavily on traditional marketing principles, it's critical that we not be so focused on attracting people to Jesus (marketing), that we leave them fending for themselves once they show up (customer support). Christianity already has too many customers and not enough marketers. (p. 120)

The back of the book includes insightful discussion questions for each chapter. I think this is a valuable tool for small groups, as well as individual study. I plan on contacting our small group leader to recommend this book for our fall study.

`Branded' is a fast read, but it also is very insightful. As Tim stated at the beginning of the book, he asked some tough questions. But they are important questions that need to be asked, and I am grateful to Mr. Sinclair for bringing them to us in this book.

This book was published by Kregel Publications. I am pleased to be part of the Litfuse Publicity Group's blog tour with these other bloggers [...].

Reviewed by Andrea Schultz - Ponderings by Andrea blog - [...]

This is a very smart book and easy read. The points Tim makes definately open your eyes to the world and how people might perceive Christians. I enjoyed it very much. I felt it made so much sense and made me laugh out loud often. I definately recommend it!

Interesting book. Not what I expected but enjoyable. Marketing Jesus and faith, pushing church agendas, all this is covered in this book. easy to read.

This book is well written, It is funny while at the same time thought provoking.

I look foward to any other works by this fine author.

The writing style was easy to follow and the ideas thought provoking. It definately made me, a Christian, evaluate myself and think about how I advertise my beliefs. The book encourages us to be the advertisement instead of relying on propaganda.

Christians are pretty good at saying and pretending, but not so good at doing and truly living, and to compensate for that deficit we have attempted to "brand" our relationship with Jesus, according to Tim Sinclair in this book. Instead of actually trying to change, we have decided to make the world think that we are different, that we are holy, and that we are transformed.

The book goes on to discuss the morality of marketing and the relationship between evangelism and marketing. The author is a radio personality and writer, and he uses his knowledge of communication, the media and advertising to reflect on the ways Christians try to communicate the gospel. Some of the insights in the book:

* For non-Christians to value Jesus, they need to see that He can meet their needs and they need to have a favourable perception of Him.

* A person's worldview is that person's reality, and we must be prepared to speak to and through it if we hope to effectively share Christ.

* We are well aware that our message mostly falls on deaf ears, but we count on making some sort of heavenly profit based on the few people who respond.

* Rather than honestly sharing what a relationship with Jesus is like, we hide our inadequacies and gloss over our imperfections, so that our story becomes a lie.

I found the book fairly short, entertaining to read, and full of good advice about how Christians can improve the typically poor and ineffective ways in which we attempt to communicate the gospel.

"Branded" is really an invitation to get real and to honestly look at how you are living your life. Tim Sinclair basically gives Christians a pep talk and explains how the world actually sees us. This is very cleverly written and it has a compelling message. I felt this was very entertaining and gives readers a ton of things to consider. I liked the writing style and even enjoyed the few moments where Tim Sinclair goes on a bit of a rant.

Yes there were some funny moments but in general this book is more about out-of-the-box thinking. What I appreciated was the analysis of our culture and the explanations of how we have all become self-reliant. The question really is: "Why do people need Jesus?" Tim Sinclair believes we are basically trying to save people with tactics that have gone out of style. We speak words that are meaningless to modern man and so we have become ineffective. He even gives words we should use to be more effective.

What I liked most about this book was the new ideas that could jolt most Christians into action. Instead of going to a prayer meeting maybe invite unsaved friends over for dinner. This book is all about building relationships. The author even goes so far as to suggest that you live as a homeless person for a few days to see what that is like and to be able to relate to homeless people. To be honest he is a little radical but I loved it.

The only thing I really couldn't agree with was giving up my internet access. I think I can find more ways to support the poor by being online. I don't think you always have to give up something to make other good things happen. I also didn't think the ideas about us being a passionless society was totally true. We are very passionate about technology. So overall I'd have to say this is an excellent book for those who want to be more genuine. The basic message is to find ways to build real relationships so people can see how Jesus has changed your life.

~The Rebecca Review