The Reciprocity Norm

I've officially been a student of marketing for about 5 weeks now, and I enjoy it so far. Who knows if I will use this degree for anything other than a wall space filler (most of the major changes in my life have been because of some random turn of events instead of applied talent or skill), but who cares. I like learning. It helps me impress strangers.

It's quite fascinating how many principles of marketing are reminiscent of my previous ideas of what Christian living was. Enter, the reciprocity norm. (If you continue reading, you will be automatically billed a marketing curriculum tasters fee of $50)

The reciprocity norm is the invisible goblin hiding behind many sales tactics. It states that individuals are motivated to give back to those who have given them something. This principle anticipates and sustains itself on the customer's feeling of guilt after receiving something (no matter how useless) for free. The key word there is "guilt." Some examples would be businesses that throw parties for their customers... a free rock concert at the Gap or maybe a pancake breakfast for a newly formed paper company?

My question is this: what place, if any, do marketing tactics such as these have in the body of Christ? The Bible encourages us to not hide our light from the world but to put it on display. We are told that true religion is visiting widows and orphans. A great promise of the Lord is that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through God's people. Thus, we have been commissioned to go about our daily lives looking for ways to bless those around us, but a crucial piece of the puzzle that still needs to be placed is our motivation. Are we doing good to receive or are we doing good because we see our Father doing good?

The corporate world forms marketing strategies to build its own kingdom. The customer is king only because profits are king. Without customers, buildings will be closed down and staff will lose their income. Ultimately, the whole economy suffers when big businesses fail to defend their kingdoms. This seems logical.

But is the Church just another corporation that is reliant on pew fillers to keep its lights on and its coffee shops running? Are not major denominations mourning because church BUILDINGS are closing in America at an alarming rate? Why should we tie our faith to such things? Should the people of God be just as reliant on a marketing strategy as the Starbucks down the road, or should we be trusting in something other than the reciprocity norm...

What if we stopped trusting in the power of guilt, and started using no marketing strategy at all? Condemnation has no place in the forgiven, yet there are legions of God's warriors as far as the eye can see that are buried under a sea of guilt for not giving enough or praying enough or reading enough to please their master...excuse me, pastor. It breaks my heart seeing people in a church who are surrounded by other people, but completely isolated unless they forfeit their dreams to take their place in someone else's.

To quote Pink Floyd, "All in all it's just another brick in the wall."

I've seen the depression in the eyes of my brothers and sisters. Christians are prisoners in their own communities. Instead of being free to be forgiven and to dream big, their God-given individualism and creativity is muzzled by guilt. American Christians are depressed because their legs are being cut off so they can fit into a vision that was never their responsibility.

(Hey teacher, leave them kids alone!)

Exit, rant.

There is a good chance that I'm being over dramatic, but that's the beauty of grace. Jesus didn't die for me so I could repay him with my good ideas. He doesn't need the reciprocity norm to do good. I know, because everyday I learn more things I can't do without His intervention. So naturally I want to be like my Father and do good not to receive a payment, but because God loves me without reason.