Hook Line and Sinker

What is the ultimate goal of a sermon? The specific answers to this question could range broadly depending on the subject matter of the individual message, but the broad response should always be life-change in the direction of Jesus Christ.

As we continue to assist many churches with developing promotional materials that highlight upcoming messages, I have become increasingly fascinated with the process through which churches are luring their neighbors into their worship centers. An overwhelmingly common theme: churches are trying to bring the messages of the Gospels and testaments into a relevant space that offers real solutions to the obstacles of daily life.

The approaches to sending this message are not nearly as consistent. In the name of relevance, many churches use movie lingo and reailty television references in series themes to build bridges to popular culture. Others utilize catchy, one-word phrases and eroded visual textures to make the church seem ‘edgy’ and not quite so ‘religious.’ Many churches are swapping terminoligy like amen, halleluia, and almighty for yeah, you rock, and awesome respectively. Preaching is out, talking is in. Suits are hung in the closet as jeans and intentionally-ripped t-shirts are worn in their places.

If the point is humbly serving Jesus and helping people to connect with Him, than these methods can all be effective means. The difficulty facing the church going for relevance is that it is all too easy to be catchy and clever without having any real content. I have sat in on a meeting where I watched church leaders struggle to find five points of a sermon that start with the same letter, followed by a scrambled search for bible passages that relate to the points just crafted.

Some churches let their pendulum swing all the way towards clever marketing and lose sight of the substance. Perhaps you know someone in church leadership who schemes tirelessly about how to fill the seats. If this is the primary focus, I can offer a guarantee that the actual message and its applications and implications will be forgettable at best and heretical at worst. In a similar manner, if a pastor has a life-changing message ready to go but no one is prompted to hear it, all is just as lost.

As with so much of the Christian life, striking a balance is the solution. Church Graphics.org has outlined three broad, essential components of any church marketing campaign. As you work to balance the three elements, your messages will be substantive and there will be listening ears waiting to hear them.

I remember being taught to use a rod and reel by my mother, an avid recreational fisherwoman. To catch our would-be supper of flaky flounder from the bottom of the cove, we needed a hook, a line, and a sinker. I’d like to make the argument that in order to become fishers of men, we need to have the same three components present in our approach to church marketing.

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The Hook
Maybe a clever phrase, stunning image, catchy website, an element of curiosity, an irrisistable question, an invitation, an offer… It might be delivered in the form of a direct-mail piece or email blast, or maybe a true buzz approach – rippling through your community by word-of-mouth. A hook is the marketing campaign itself – something for the fish to nibble on. It is the very thing that will make someone look twice, garnish attention, engage the viewer. Without a hook, your message will go unnoticed. Hooks I’ve seen implemented by churches include coupons for free coffee and cookies, broad rhetorical questions with flourescent punctuation, clever visual imagery, even in some rare cases actual carnival rides for kids during the service.

A hook is not biblical, and it is not anti-biblical. There is nothing of substance in the actual hook, and often nothing of lasting value can be found in the hook itself. A hook is nothing more than a tool – an effective way to get someone’s attention. The reason for offering a hook is to engage. Without an engaging offer, opportunity, or question, there will be little result.

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The Line
A hook is nothing more a floating barb. It is only functional if it is attached to the solid ground by a line. For the sake of this marketing discussion, a line is the message itself – the life-changing truth that ultimatley will connect your neighbors to the love of Jesus. A guest of your church who grabbed onto the hook you cast will quickly swim away if there is no reason to stay. A church marketing campaign is only about getting people through the doorway, but once there it is important that the message given is a perfect balance of biblically true and applicaable to daily living.

Without a substantive and relevant message, a church is nothing, and it is a safe guess that most congregants attend these places out of a sense of guilt or obligation. A hook is an initial connection, but a life-changing, easily understood message will sustain as no hook ever could.

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The Sinker
A hook attached to a line washes around in the tide. Necessary is something of weight that allows the line to sink deeply and ground itself. We refer to the sinker as a point of application or implication. The sinker sends a message to the listener such as, “You’ve just heard the truth. What are you going to do about it?” Saying this is not enough. If you are talking about the importance of serving others, you need to create tangible opportunities on the calendar for people to serve others. If discussing the importance of accountability, there needs to be groups that listeners can readily join. If the message highlights the importance of married couples to spend time together, there needs to be occassional childcare options offered at the church so couples can spend a few hours together as recommended.

How many sermons have you heard in your lifetime? How many do you remember? Sinkers are the real-life provisions that make a message instantly and easily applicable. Make sure your message doesn’t get lost in a shuffle of old note sheets. Allow the message to sink in deeply by moving it outside of the walls of the worship service.

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Church Graphics.org consults with churches and non-profit organizations on the specific implementation of these ideas. If you have an upcoming series of messages, please contact us. We look forward to partnering with you and making sure this next series connects people to the message and inspires lasting life-change.