[Editors Note: This post reflects Brian's thoughts and may or may not be the opinion of my fellow artists]

I've been thinking again (I know: this spells trouble). So this post takes several random things and tries to put them into something coherent; I hope it works.

San Diego was a target market for a recent marketing campaign by Jack in the Box to show its "love" for its struggling customers in this heightened time of financial woe due to the rise in gas prices. They offered two free tacos to anyone that came in with a recent gas receipt. Good idea, really. Because it is estimated that a taco only costs them like a dime to make, but of course, most consumers will also purchase an extremely overpriced beverage, and...their tacos are pretty weak, so they'll probably splurge for something else like fries or a burger, or maybe even pay for extra tacos.

This got me thinking about how churches often market themselves to their consumers potential congregants. Jack in the Box is a pretty good burger joint; it is not a good Mexican restaurant. I know that some absolutely love themselves a JB taco from time to time, but (and here I speak as an expert that lives just a couple miles north of the border) it is not really a taco per se. It is a poor burger joint substitute. If you want the real thing, you go to a taco shop (and the more of a hole in the wall it is, the better and more authentic it likely will be). This epidemic is running rampant in the food industry as burger joints try to also become coffee shops, pizza parlors, and yogurt mills. Sort of the Walmartirazation of the restaurant world. Unfortunately, this trend is working its way into the church and it bothers me...a lot!

Over the last decade, my denomination (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) has been struggling with identity issues as it fiddles with various church growth and marketing strategies. And of course, the LCMS is not alone here as many other denominations and independent churches struggle alongside us. We have a strong heritage of catechisms, confessions, and liturgical worship that has been passed down to us. Problem. What do we do when we notice that the big Calvary Church down the street seems to really be growing? Well one answer that is becoming prominent is that we just change our menu to cater to the broadening needs of our customer base. [Hey! People like tacos, mabe we should make tacos alongside our burgers] I think this is a poor solution. Why? Because Lutherans do a terrible job of acting like the Calvary Chapel. It comes off as a cheap substitute. Why? Because the two worship styles were founded upon two very different theologies. Here's my thought. If you really like the syle, the feel, the sound, the whatever of something akin to a contemporary Calvary service, why not just go to an actual Calvary Chapel church where they do their thing really well. And vice versa: If I want high liturgy couched in tradition with hymns, creeds, and prayers, then I would not attend a Calvary Church (even if they had candles lit) because it really would not be an authentic representation of it.

What's my point? It is okay for a burger shop to be really good at JUST making burgers. The minute they start flipping pizzas, stocking salsa as a condiment, and installing an espresso machine they are going after other gods...I mean...consumers. And it is okay for a Lutheran church to be...well...Lutheran. And the same goes for whatever tradition that your church represents. Take pride in your heritage and identity, and if you cannot take pride in it for theological or ethical reasons, maybe you shouldn't be in it. And if that's the case? Leave it, but don't try to change it into something that is not. Because you just end up having to come up with silly free taco promotions to keep or attract consumers when they start realizing that the tacos next door are actually authentic.