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So, this morning marks the last Wednesday in our house. Its really starting to snowball now. We had our last small group get together last night and it was marvelous. We had some amazing Italian food, but maybe the high point was a group picture of the guys that turned into a cheesy picture on the stairs, then a cheesy picture on chairs, man it was quite funny. Anyway as we finish up some loose ends I’ve been finding some solace in some different books I’ve been reading. The first book I read was Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. It’s pretty good perspective on the reality of being in a church leadership position. Not only was there some good thoughts about different styles/types of leadership it was an easy read. The other book I’ve had my hands on is The Divine Commodity by Skye Jenathi. Its pretty intense and isn’t as easy to read as Hybels’ book. But the content is great. A few thought provoking bits:

An economist was asked his opinion on the next phase of the economy we are headed into. He quickly identified that as American’s we’ve been through an Agrarian Economy which lead to the Industrial Economy in turn led to the Service Economy, and that is leading to the Experience Economy. Example: It used to be cheaper to buy the ingredients and make a cake from scratch [Agrarian]. Then it was easier to just buy a mix from the store [Industrial]. After that, its just easier to have the grocery story make a Superman Cake because its better than the others [Service] and now the cake is presented at Chuck E. Cheese’s or a bowling alley to fully enhance the Experience [Experiential]

The economist goes on to say that as a church, we have followed these economies, but unfortunately marketing an experience at church is somewhat fake and not truthful to the Gospel. He’s questioned by a young preacher who says, If I’m to reach this culture, shouldn’t I have a product to offer them? The economist answered, the only thing of value in today’s church is the Redemptive Grace of the Message of Jesus Christ.

That really stuck out to me, not only the economics of it, but the fact that I get so stuck on all the externalities of church, when the only true thing of value that the church has is Jesus.

The economist goes on to say that the true commodity of the Experiential Economy will be Authenticity. Marketing an Experience vs being Authentic. Thoughts?