Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Jesus Cropped from the Picture

of discretionary income, Americans could afford to be selective about the products they wanted. For the first time, they could choose among multiple products and began demanding specialized items to meet their wishes. However, such wishes were not always transparent to companies, so they started asking: “What do customers want? Can we develop it while they still want it? How can we keep customers satisfied?” The entire organizational business enterprise suddenly shifted to meet customer needs . The resulting shift was called the Marketing Concept , the belief that “the key to achieving organizational goals consists in determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors.” 73 The Marketing Concept solidified the idea that “customer is king.” Because of this titanic shift in business practice to the individual consumer, Individualism became embedded in American culture. Rationalism and Individualism Mixed Together In the 1950s, as Traditionals continued defending the Bible against liberal attacks, they were rapidly deploying missionaries and forming new publications, educational institutions, and parachurch organizations. It was an exciting time of growth.

Meanwhile, the Marketing Concept was developing in America without much notice from Traditionals. Without knowing it, the Traditional Method and the Marketing Concept were growing up together. Both

116