authentic, but how?
"Authenticity" has been the craze in churches. "It's all about being real, man." "Be yourself". We've done this at times for sure at Eikon. I read up on all the postmodern books on learning to show authenticity.
Here is a way of understanding authenticity.
Standard economic theory assumes that buyers are rational creatures who observe supply-and-demand laws. But in the past 20 years, a school of behavioural economists has emergd to point out the obvious: We don't simply look at price and quality anymore, we decide how we feel about a computer or even a pair of socks before we buy. What we want to feel when buying a product is if it's the genuine article.
Apple products are genius. Some see the iphone as a silly pose; others find Apple products genuine because of their unique design and "think differently" posture. The crucial factor dividing success from failure in the next several years will be whether business, and I argue churches is perceived as real or fake, authentic or inauthentic.
Ok, so I buy into the authenticity craze. It's a good thing to be sure. The number one reason why people are leaving the church is because it feels fake, dishonest, inauthethentic, doesn't embrace the real self. We get that.
So the question thus becomes: how can a church deliver authenticity? In a recent article I came across on new business paradigm models, the author suggested 2 that are very applicable to churches.
1) Churches can choose to be transparent and strive to be what they say they are. Brand it up, say it out loud, put in in the church bulletin, say we're an open, authentic church. I've seen this. We've tried this at Eikon. I'm not saying it doesn't work. But the question we finally asked ourselves: Why say it, just be it. Unlike a consumer product, you can't fake authenticity. This feeling is like a thick cloud of smoke to someone unchurched or experiencing your space for the first time. They feel it almost instantly.
When we discussed this in the beginning, we had to ask ourselves: are we really prepared to allow people to speak their minds? Are we prepared to embrace the messy, the chaos, the questions most churches don't want to air? Are we prepared to open up our sermons for criticism, and perhaps Q @ A time? Are we prepared to let people interject during the gathering to disagree? Are we prepared to open ourselves up and say we're not sure? Are we prepared to say we don't know sometimes? Are we prepared to admit fault and error?
Now of course these aren't the only ways to display authenticity, but they sure are the more visible one's, and strong indications on how far you're willing to take it.
2) Another strategy is to poke fun at their marketing excesses and admit their inauthenticity. The best reactions we get out of people are when we make them smile. Poke fun at ourselves. Admit our checkered past and admit we make mistakes. No need to speak about it more than that. Let your actions speak for themselves. The quick tendency is to want to tell everyone that you're creating this "authentic" space, but talking about is counterproductive.
The reason why Apple is so successful is not because of their advertising, but because they genuinely have a following of people who believe in their products.
Authenticity? Yes. But before following the bandwagon, ask yourself if you really know what that means. I work on this on a daily basis and am still learning to live an authentic Christian faith.
Here is a way of understanding authenticity.
Standard economic theory assumes that buyers are rational creatures who observe supply-and-demand laws. But in the past 20 years, a school of behavioural economists has emergd to point out the obvious: We don't simply look at price and quality anymore, we decide how we feel about a computer or even a pair of socks before we buy. What we want to feel when buying a product is if it's the genuine article.
Apple products are genius. Some see the iphone as a silly pose; others find Apple products genuine because of their unique design and "think differently" posture. The crucial factor dividing success from failure in the next several years will be whether business, and I argue churches is perceived as real or fake, authentic or inauthentic.
Ok, so I buy into the authenticity craze. It's a good thing to be sure. The number one reason why people are leaving the church is because it feels fake, dishonest, inauthethentic, doesn't embrace the real self. We get that.
So the question thus becomes: how can a church deliver authenticity? In a recent article I came across on new business paradigm models, the author suggested 2 that are very applicable to churches.
1) Churches can choose to be transparent and strive to be what they say they are. Brand it up, say it out loud, put in in the church bulletin, say we're an open, authentic church. I've seen this. We've tried this at Eikon. I'm not saying it doesn't work. But the question we finally asked ourselves: Why say it, just be it. Unlike a consumer product, you can't fake authenticity. This feeling is like a thick cloud of smoke to someone unchurched or experiencing your space for the first time. They feel it almost instantly.
When we discussed this in the beginning, we had to ask ourselves: are we really prepared to allow people to speak their minds? Are we prepared to embrace the messy, the chaos, the questions most churches don't want to air? Are we prepared to open up our sermons for criticism, and perhaps Q @ A time? Are we prepared to let people interject during the gathering to disagree? Are we prepared to open ourselves up and say we're not sure? Are we prepared to say we don't know sometimes? Are we prepared to admit fault and error?
Now of course these aren't the only ways to display authenticity, but they sure are the more visible one's, and strong indications on how far you're willing to take it.
2) Another strategy is to poke fun at their marketing excesses and admit their inauthenticity. The best reactions we get out of people are when we make them smile. Poke fun at ourselves. Admit our checkered past and admit we make mistakes. No need to speak about it more than that. Let your actions speak for themselves. The quick tendency is to want to tell everyone that you're creating this "authentic" space, but talking about is counterproductive.
The reason why Apple is so successful is not because of their advertising, but because they genuinely have a following of people who believe in their products.
Authenticity? Yes. But before following the bandwagon, ask yourself if you really know what that means. I work on this on a daily basis and am still learning to live an authentic Christian faith.
posted by dcschmiddy at 6:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home