We target Wal-Mart customers!

What could be more relevant than providing something that everyone needs - a relationship with God and with other people?

In many communities Wal-Mart is the “town square” - especially on weekends, the aisles are crammed with neighbors and frineds catching up with each other.

The church could take a lesson in market relevancy and providing community from the retail behemoth.

Hi Todd: 

I thought many churches do treat people with a Big Box mentaility. 

We pay people minimum wages.
We encourage ovetime without putting it on the clock.
We rally the staff to keep morale up when income is low.
We notify staff that floggings will continue until morale improves…

Sent in a light hearted spirit...any resemblance to real churches or Big Box stores is purely co-incidental. 

Why do people go to Wal-Mart in the first place? They have a need that the store can meet. Many times a store will advertise a product that they are selling below cost just to bring in customers and sell them the other products that they may not have even known that they needed,
In order to bring in the unsaved we must find a need that they have and meet that need and they will come. They do not know that they need salvation or they believe they already have it. What other need might the church help them with ? Fellowship, at times even entertainment, support for: divorce,grief, single moms etc…
I looked back on my unsaved life and found that when I had a need I searched for the solution. Let’s take fellowship for example. I went to the bar of my choice. I met friends, made new ones and spent my money. If I missed a week ,the bar tender did not call me nor did he visit me. I wasn’t offended nor did I vow never to return. I went back because I wanted to, they fulfilled a need I had.
If we could meet peoples perceived needs and then introduce them to Jesus, the one they really need, they will come back no matter what color the carpet is.

Wal-Mart does not just meet needs it does so at a value.  It is it’s greatest strength that you can meet your needs for less.  It is now becoming one stop for many people because what people values is time.  One of the lessons we can learn is offer value at a value.  I know Jesus said unless we take up our cross and deny ourselves… and this is critical to the making disciples, but unless we demonstrate that there is indeed values here they will ship for intimacy in sex, community in clubs and sports, friendship in co-workers and soft ball leagues, acceptance in the WWW and other communities in which acceptance is based in a certain level of denial. 

As a youth worker to students for over 18 years I never tried to match what the world, MTV or any other group could offer, I simply focused on what I could offer and how to make that offer as clear as possible.  Wal-Mart does this.  They get in trouble with competitors because they are focused on what they are building and offering without regard to competition.  The churches dfficulty is that we are focused on other churhces as competitors and not on the enemy.

I have always said, the largest youth group in any city is the one that Satan has.  The largest group of people in any city is the unchurched, who shop for their needs in money, success, sex, addiction, isolation… This is why I now plant churches, to go get those people.

And one more thing, Todd.
Your paragraph--- “The church offers eternal life and salvation for free.”
Is that really what the church offers?
A neat little gift card which reads, “Get out of hell.... FREE!”

Your statement is technically correct. But most lay-readers and too many pastors have a limited vision of the meaning of “eternal life” and “salvation.” So I think you need to be more clear.

No question the church can take some tips from business and marketing to help in the cause.
But it must never take the place of loving others and worship to God.  But if it can help get people in the door, let’s use it as a tool.

As I reflect on the book of Acts and most of the Epistles, I can’t help but think that the church service is to equip the saints to go out into the highways and byways to spread the good news.  Correct me if I’m wrong (and I realize that Peter added 5000 at a time when he had his street corner messages) but most of the church was built through individuals sharing their lives with other individuals.

The only thing that makes a follower of Christ relevant is their real everyday life being surrendered to Jesus. 

The organized church service isn’t depicted as the vehicle for winning people to Christ.  The Holy Spirit is that vehicle.  WalMart is a great marketing genius, but they are marketing cheap, consumable items.  Christians are marketing something so valuable that the truth is though many are called, only few actually discover it.

Relevance happens when people pray and turn their lives over to the Holy Spirit.  Not when we come up with a better, shinier entertaining program.

My take for what it is worth.  O.k. the question does the church care about people in the community like wally world does?  Well, in my 20 years of experience the answer is no.  The reason I give that answer is that evangelism or reaching people seems to always end up in a fight over terms like “numbers” and “what about us” and “reaching people means that we dumb down the gospel” or “that we become and inch deep and a mile wide” the sad part is that in truth the churches that are reaching the community end up getting criticized for doing what is right period.  Reaching people, putting a value on every person is a worthy endeavor.  I woud rather belong to a church that values people outside of its walls as much or more than the people that attend.  “leave the 99 and go get the 1”

Josh, I haven’t waited in a Wal-mart line for over three years.  When I moved to a small Minnesota town to begin my first pastoral call, I decided to shop as much as possible at the local grocery store, the local hardware store, and the local lumber yard… sometimes (but not always) spending a little bit more for a particular purchase… but ALWAYS saving the money from the 10 mile drive to the bigger city… and ALWAYS (at least the way I see it) doing the right thing.

For me, it is a moral choice.  I’d invite you (and others) to take a look at http://www.walmartwatch.com.  Especially their recent article about food imports from China.  I don’t agree with everything at their website, but much of it. 

About a century ago, the vibrant churches of America were passionately involved in working for social justice.  The “Social Gospel” was inseparable from the evangelistic message.  Today, many of the conservative evangelical churches seem to be on the wrong side of many (most?) significant moral issues… war, torture, gun control, justice for the poor and immigrants, fairness for workers, progressive farm legislation instead of kick-backs to large global agribusinesses, and global warming.  Every dollar we spend is a moral choice.

How do churches justify shopping at Wal-mart and Sam’s Club?  So-called “good stewardship” (i.e. saving a little money) cannot trump Wal-mart’s consistent history of discrimination against women and minorities, Wal-mart’s putting more value in saving a buck than in their workers’ health care, Wal-mart’s disregard for the environment (God’s good creation!), and Wal-mart’s negative impact on local communities.

“The smaller chruches cannot compete with this approach of “getting people in church.” “
---SO NOT TRUE, Why do we fool ourselves into thinking that you have to have a big polished perfect gig to attract people.  The most successful attempt I made at getting people in the church door, was simple free, and fun!!! It is something that most pastors could do if they could just pull them selves out of the prayer closet and get into their community (yes prayer is valuable and I do pray but God also told Elijah to get up stop the paryer and see what I am doing) .  I coached with the little leauge football team.  This brought in 33% of our little church.  On top of that this 33% has become some of our most valuable people tothe church.

RANDY--
First off this is not a sermon set to reach the lost or engage the found, it is a stream of thought ment to draw out new ideas from pastors who are looking to do something signifigant for Christ within their local context.  So sometimes we need to let go of the hard fast “rules” that our seminary proffs gave us and ponder new ideas.

“Besides, a better example of real communitiy would be the small town corner bar and grill. At least their profits are reinvested in the community”
---Okay so using the analogy of a corparate gaint who exploits people is wrong but a better one would be a small town bar that exploits people, then causes them to beat their wives, curse their children and end up in a drunk driving accident.  Wonder what your seminary proff would think of that (not that I think it matters, if an analogy causes people to think then use it, but you seem to not want anyone to “loose the point in a bad analogy” this is another good example of that)

Good pint about Wal-mart’s failings…

But…

The argument about whether or not Wal-mart is evil is beside the point. Of COURSE they’re evil, in many ways. But… to look at their success based on their RELENTLESS commitment to making the customer happy/welcome/satisfied/engaged/whatever is valuable. That was, I think the point.

I’ll give you a “small” example. I puchased last year a new guitar from a very high-end guitar maker. It cost 5 to 10 TIMES what an “equivalent” guitar would cost form an “average” manufacturer, in fact, it cost more than what many of my friends cars are worth (It was worth every penny by the way). But it’s quality is WAY more than those cheaper instruments, they make as many in a year as the big guys do in a week or something (or maybe it’s a day, I can’t remember)… Plus, I have a relationship and community with a whole host of people who own these, as well as the ones who make them, because that company has a relentless commitment to customer service. I’ve emailed the guy who owns the company several times and he always answers me RIGHT back. (He’s a believer by the way...) They will bend over backwards to make sure the guitar is just right, they actually care. Yes, they charge for it, a pretty penny that most people can’t afford (I saved for a LONG time for this...), but they care about the customer FIRST!

If our commitment to the people who come in our doors, especially the guests, is very high, we will change the world. I ALWAYS feel welcome in the Wal-mart near my house. I feel they price things to care about the customer (even if it means they treat their employees worse than we think they should...). I think it is an okay comparison. And that very small guitar company makes me feel like I’m part of the team, not just a customer, even if I never buy another instrument from them again… so it might be even BETTER!