After reading chapter 13 from Understanding Evangelical Media, I was a bit confused. The chapter was called Merchandising Jesus Products. They talked about evangelical merchandise and all the different products out there and if and how it evangelizes to non-believers. It was almost like the book was making fun of the products.
The book talked about some different products that were Christian products. They talked about different toys, stuffed animals and video games. The funny thing I thought was that they are all secular knock offs. Evangelicals made build-a-bear knock offs and American Girl Doll knock offs. Both of those items are huge, very popular products however, when Christians try to make it an evangelical product it almost comes off as a joke. In our class presentation Bre and Emilee also talked about Wash Away Your Sins Bubble Bath. I thought this was so random and I do not really understand how an item like that can reach out to people and help get them be saved.
As the book went on talking about the different products I started thinking about the people that actually buy these items. All these products are marketed towards people that are already Christians that do not necessarily need to hear about Christ because they already believe in Him. On mardel.com, which is a Christian bookstore website, they said, “Mardel is a company dedicated to renewing minds and transforming lives”. But whom are they marketing and selling their products to? A person that does not believe in Christ I do not think would decide to buy Wash Away My Sins Bubble Bath or decide to make Prayer Circle Friends stuffed animals opposed to Build-A-Bear animals. They are advertising themselves to people who already believe in Christianity, so in a way I do not see how these products are used as evangelizing tools.
After thinking about the people who buy these items I thought if these items really make a difference. I honestly do not see how they do. However, maybe they do work for some people. I think if an item is meant to reach out to other people that do not believe in God then products should be made and marketed towards those people. These products also, I think, come off as a joke. All these evangelical items are imitations that are not made well. If we are meant to stand out as Christians and be different from everyone else, our products and ideas should be just as different and unique. I think that the secular world can easily make a joke out of these imitations and not take these products or even Christians seriously because of our lack of uniqueness.
Although I think Christians have a good intention for these products, I do not think the message really gets across. Maybe if the ideas were unique and it was marketed toward non-believers, evangelical merchandising can truly be effective. But until then I do not think that they have made a giant impact.
