Marketing God

T he Barna Research Group (BRG), a 20-year-old Southern California-based market research company “dedicated to assisting God’s people to do the work of the Kingdom,” has come upon some disturbing data, at least for evangelicals. To wit, although 41 percent of U.S. citizens self-identify as born-again Christians, only 47 percent believe that Jesus lived a sin-free life, and only 28 percent feel the need to recruit others to their faith. Worse, only 6 percent of born-again teens believe moral truth to be absolute; the rest believe circumstances influence behavior and waiver about the need for rigid dos and don’ts. 

For the CEO of Barna Research Group, George Barna, and other evangelicals, these findings constitute a crisis. Indeed, they argue that calling oneself born-again is meaningless if individual adherents are allowed to interpret scriptural invectives themselves. Instead, they contend that born-again Christians must be united by fixed precepts: among them, that the Bible is the completely accurate word of God; that Satan is a living thing; and that salvation happens by grace alone. 

But how do you drill this into the heads of the millions of self-styled born-agains who are less dogmatic? 

Enter Thomas Nelson, Inc., the number one book publisher in the Christian buyer’s market. While Nelson peddles goods to every consumer group—pre-schoolers to retirees—teenagers are of particular interest to the Nashville firm and staff continually develop new products to entice them. Barna’s web- site offers insight into this demographic: “Teens have been among the most spiritually interested individuals in the nation for more than a decade…Their perspectives on truth, integrity, meaning, justice, morality and ethics are formed quite early in life.” 

The question is how best to win them over—and the disposable cash they carry. 

Finding an answer prompted Nelson to team up with youth pastors, Christian writers, teens, and graphic designers from Studio Four5One, an award-winning Dublin firm responsible for creating album covers for U2, Sting, Depeche Mode, and Elvis Costello. The result of their collaboration was Revolve: The Complete New Testament . A glossy, fashion-magazine look-alike, Revolve wrapped an easy-to-read version of the New Testament—“Matthew” to “Revelations”—with messages about dating (“God made guys to be the leaders. This means that they lead in relationships”); sex (“sex is a beautiful gift that God has given married people. To wonder is ok…but to fantasize about it, to think about doing it, is sinful.”); homosexuality (“the Bible clearly says that homosexuality is wrong”); and a panoply of social issues, from AIDS to eating disorders to sexual violence. Thanks to stock photos, an array of beautiful young women of every hue make Revolve an appealing—if often appalling—read. 

Not surprisingly, Christians and curious others gobbled it up: 300,000 copies of Revolve have been sold since its July release. Nelson reports that it was the best-selling Bible of 2003, available not only in Christian bookstores, but in Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, and other mainstream venues. According to Nelson publicist, Marika Flatt, “Nearly everyone who got their hands on Revolve, including the New York Times Magazine and NBC’s “Today Show,” asked, ‘Will there be a guy’s version?’” 

The answer was a resounding, “Yes.” Refuel was released in April and is being marketed to males ages 12-22. Like Revolve , it inserts advice on dating, sex, divorce, social activism, pornography, getting to heaven, hygiene, and becoming a missionary between Scriptural passages. As visually stunning as its predecessor, Refuel is a hefty 390 pages and urges readers to be “radical about their faith,” and not simply one-hour- a-week Christians. 

Some of its offerings are what you would expect from an evangelical publication: