Narrowcasting the Gospel

Narrowcasting is, as the name suggests, the opposite of Broadcasting.  In Broadcasting we scatter a message far and wide and hit as broad a selection of targets as possible.  In Narrowcasting we aim at a clearly defined target.

My thinking about this was sparked by a meeting I attended while in the US recently.  The preacher was a fairly young guy (younger then me anyway!) but his preaching was of a style that seemed to belong to an older generation.  It was very stylized – with lots of shouting, sweating and ‘huh’s.  I have to admit that it was so alien to my culture that I sat transfixed by the spectacle.  I felt like an anthropologist observing some kind of fertility rite in a newly discovered tribe in the jungle.

Some ministers that I respect enormously were sitting near me – and they were loving it!  They were shouting encouragement, waving their hands, standing to their feet on occasion – and I’m asking myself if I am just plain unspiritual or a ungodly heathen because it was all leaving me cold.  At the end of the meeting another friend whom I really respect said, “Well, we really had some preaching tonight, didn’t we?”

I didn’t know how to answer so I just kept my mouth shut.  Evidently my friend had experienced what to him was ‘real preaching’ – but I just felt like I had experienced a cultural performance – interesting, but not something that helped me sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Thinking on this some more, I realised how our styles of ministry, including preaching, are becoming more and more examples of narrowcasting as society continues to diversify into a multitude of subcultures.  I guess my normal preaching style (conversational, storytelling interspersed with jokes, strolling about the platform) would hardly seem like ‘real preaching’ to someone raised on a diet of shouting, sweating and ‘huh’s.  To our people in Ireland it can mediate the presence of the Holy Spirit, but to those raised on grits it might just manifest itself as an intriguing cultural performance.

Our style of ministry will speak volumes about which segments of the population we are trying to reach.  If we are narrowcasting to a receptive and growing demographic then Church Growth should, all other things being equal, result.  If we are narrowcasting to a resistant or shrinking demographic then tough times are coming.  As Frank Sinatra sang, “There may be trouble ahead …”

One of the joys about multicultural ministry is that you learn to be adaptable.  You can present your message in different ways.  I’ve learned to preach like an Irishman, a Romanian and an African when the occasion demands.  I guess the sweating, shouting, ‘huh’ing preacher I heard recently, judging by the reactions of those sitting round me,  was spot on as far as most of his audience were concerned.  I found myself wondering what kind of people populate his church.  Are they all raised on that kind of preaching?  Or maybe he’s as adaptable as they come and wows an unchurched crowd with a superb Bill Hybels impression.

What is scary is when you get people who can’t adapt their style of ministry to fit the congregation.  We’ve had a few guest speakers come to Ireland and get quite upset with our congregation.  “Why are y’all so quiet?”  they demand, “I thought this was supposed to be a Pentecostal Church!”  What they don’t realise is that our people will shout the house down if they are getting a bit of revelational truth that meshes with their spirits – but they aren’t about to mistake the shouting of cliches with increased volume for the anointing of God.  In some cases our congregation was genuinely quite concerned that the screaming sweating visiting preacher was about to have a heart attack (we have a number of medical doctors in the Church).

So, what is the conclusion to be drawn from these cultural musings of mine?  Quite simply we need to be aware of the power of narrowcasting.  If we’re happy with the results that our ministry is producing and the demographic that we’re touching then great!  If not, then it’s time to adapt our changing presentation of the unchanging message to narrowcast to our intended target group.  Just thinking we can broadcast the message indiscriminately will leave a whole swathe of unreached people groups in our immediate vicinity.