HOW TO SELL YOUR CHURCH AND MAKE GOOD RETURNS

It sounds funny, doesn’t it, for someone to tell you to go and sell your church? What does that mean? How can you sell your church?

Before you come asking for my neck, I surely believe you need this sincere advice than anything else for now. The reason is that both you and I know very well that our primary assignment as Christian believers is to win soul and expand the kingdom of God.

At least that is what Christ commanded us to do. He say go ye into the world and preach the gospel. The command is not optional: it’s mandatory as a child of God. But like so many of us, you seem to be struggling with this injunction. The last time you did some calculation on how many people you have witnessed to for the past few weeks or months, you had some crack in your belly. The result is definitely very poor.

As a faithful Christian, with eye for the prize that is ahead of you, this poor result is not good for any reason. That is why you surely need this very post.

The beauty of evangelism is that it opens the door for sinners to come to repentance. Going by the sinful nature of man no sinner would want to willingly do that. Someone must sell the idea to them. And that is why every one of us as Christians is concerned.

So like a salesman you have been playing your part because you believe they ought to buy your idea and get born again. But unfortunately things have not worked out this way.

There are some reasons for this. As true Christians many of us don’t actually realize that we are engaged in business. Some of us don’t know that winning soul for Christ is all about marketing the gospel. And that people would not ordinarily want to buy what they are not impressed of. Not just the product alone but the presentation of the product itself.

The first thing here is the image – your image and the image of your church. Most often many of us think our image in winning souls for Christ doesn’t matter.  But it matters. Though it makes sense to look great with a lot of American accent when preaching the gospel, this is however not all about the image. The image here is your complete character.

As a gospel marketer you need to possess stainless qualities. Such confrontation like “Paul I know, Peter I know. But who are you?” needs to be avoided. You cannot sell what you don’t have. Your personality must first explain the ‘product’ which is the Word of God before you can sell the product itself. Your total personality is what you need to effectively deliver the gospel.

Likewise the church you attend. It is unfortunate many churches no longer lay emphasis on the important of following the image of early church. A good name doesn’t matter anymore. While some pastors has gone to connect with strange powers to make their church popular some have resolved to using gimmick and abracadabra to sell the gospel.

But ordinarily the image of a good church is enough to do a successful marketing with the gospel. Like a good corporate organization would value its image, the church should be more concern about the kind of image it possesses.

Secondly, as a soul winner you needs to be highly tolerant and accommodating. You cannot sell the gospel with hostility, anger or hate. There is no doubt you will encounter some challenges in the field but you need to control yourself and avoid improper language. Like what a good marketer would do, strive to feed your ‘buyers’ with only relevant and convincing information. Though you are not the one to convince sinners to repent, but the words that come forth from you can make a difference.

This should be the same attitude with your church. The church definitely needs a kind of a brand. The way a church is can determine the kind of people to attract into the ministry.  

If your church is still one of those churches that worship under a leaking roof and tatter-looking auditorium, you need to think fast. Or if your church is one of those churches that don’t see the value of using microphones and musical instrument for worship, you need to examine what you really want with the gospel. The reason is that you are dealing with people who are daily experiencing changes in the world. You cannot effectively reach out to them with your outdated method.

Then thirdly, you need a good communication skill. Because this is usually the area where many gospel marketer flops. They have the zeal to preach the gospel but they don’t know how to effectively deliver their messages. 

The issue is not about speaking ‘grammar’. It’s just the ability to communicate what the spirit ask you to say in the most appropriate and honest way. This can be done in any language you are most conversant with.

This is the same thing with the church. Most pastors don’t understand that worshipers are not really keen about those ‘terrific’ sermons. All those theatrical displays on pulpit may be good but sometimes this not what bring sinners to repentance. What the sinners need is the WORD OF GOD preach with simplicity, power and anointing.

Finally, the church must enhance its image through regular publicity in order to win more souls. The truth is, God is not going to announce your church to the world if the church is not prepared to announce itself.

Your church must blow her trumpet to attract people. This can be done in form of distributing tracts, flyers, handbills, invitation cards and banners. It can also make use of the various media outlets, like the television, radio, social media, newspapers and magazines. This is one sure way of how you can sell your church and make good returns.