Jesus Cropped from the Picture

The Pragmatic Method

to “worship as celebration” (see Chapter 6). When the class started, what most friends wanted to know was how many people were in attendance, as though numbers were an indication of success. Their queries indicated the influence of the Pragmatic Method. Cultural Assumptions The Pragmatic Method was heavily influenced by the Marketing Concept. While the Traditional Method silently accepted it as a “neutral” cultural expression, Pragmatics co-opted it as a “virtue,” making it the central mechanism for church outreach in the mid- 1970s. Since the Marketing Concept always starts with the customer , churches began orienting their programs and activities around the needs of the unchurched individual. The Pragmatic Method seeks to design programs that harness God’s power in order to produce predictable results. 81 For example, many churches joined in the 1976 I Found It campaign, a mass-communication effort using the latest marketing principles to share the gospel. As a young Christian participating in the campaign, I was taught to make telemarketing calls to share the gospel and respond to consumer questions. The program was geared toward personal salvation (Individualism), provided answers to skeptics’ queries (Rationalism), and made church membership optional (although church participation was highly encouraged).

The Bible Pragmatics believe that the Bible is not only true, but also good for the individual , providing not only the message of eternal life in the age to

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