Some things in business are harder than others, that’s a fact. Typically speaking most owners are really good at 1 or 2 aspects of their business and can muster through everything else. When it comes to advertising, it can be a struggle to find the right, God fearing, way to do it.
In my unsaved days my pride and arrogance helped make decisions on what to advertise. The bottom line was always… the bottom line. I was convinced that if I could just get you into the door our service and product would keep you coming back. And we did, for the most part, deliver on those things but when I got saved, every advertisement and word we put out there became something I would be held accountable for. It was around this time that we quit spending money on advertising outside of some pens and other promotional items. Ironically, our sales kept rising at a pace we struggled to keep up with, but that’s a story for another day.
Even while I am writing this I am still learning about God’s plan for advertising. He cares infinitely more about our souls than he does about our businesses but he is always right there along the way to help and guide. There is one thing he has made clear to me though, there is no place for deceit in a Christian business. At face value this seems pretty simple, don’t lie to gain customers but what if it’s not the customers we are deceiving but ourselves? We might be able to fool other people but God knows our secret motives and our true intentions (Jeremiah 17:10).
You might be asking yourself, what is Chance talking about, has he finally lost it? Let me give you an example. Suppose you own a bake shop and you decide to run an ad on oatmeal cookies. Buy one dozen get the second dozen free. Simple enough right? But what were the motives behind selling those cookies? Did you overbuy some ingredients and now your trying to unload them before they spoil? ‘Are you trying to lure them in so you can upsell them on something that isn’t necessary? Don’t get me wrong, these reasons could be right or they could be wrong. The question you should be asking yourself is what if God walked in right now and wanted to buy these cookies? Would he see selfish motives behind the sale or a pure heart with good intentions. The latter is what we should seek.
For the sake of time I will try to wrap this post up. Psalm 25:3 says,” No one who trusts in you will be disgraced but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others”. It is so important to check your motives before you advertise. We don’t want to disgrace God by our actions but instead let’s bring him alongside our decision making. Before you pull the trigger on your advertising purchases, spend some time in prayer and ask God to show you if there are any impure motives and ask him to show them to you. If there is something there then do not pull the trigger. Mark 7:21-23 Jesus list’s out all kinds of evil things that might be hiding in there but let God be the surgeon that removes those things so you can bring glory to his name.
I hope this article helps. It really boils down to your heart and the heart of your business. Let God be the one who helps you get your business where it needs to be. He doesn’t need to advertise, he can do more with nothing than we could do with everything.
