tebow, barna, and culture [an interview with sam van eman]

The editorial team for HighCallingBlogs.com is really a pretty amazing group of people. I feel quite honored to be able to serve with this group as the Social Media Editor. I believe strongly in our mission to glorify God through the high calling of our daily work.

Another person I know that believes in that mission is Sam Van Eman. Sam is the Culture Editor for the network. In addition to that he is the Staff Resource Specialist for Coalition for Christian Outreach, and he blogs at A New Breed of Advertisers.

Recently I had the chance to chat with Sam about his role with the network, and to get his thoughts on some recent advertising and related research.

Dan: Sam, dude, tell my readers a little bit about who you are, what you do for HighCallingBlogs.com, and what your blog New Breed of Advertisers is all about.

Sam: Thanks for asking, Dan. I’m a father (just finished a game of Dutch Blitz in which I got crushed by my eight-year-old daughter) and a husband (enjoyed Pad Thai and spring rolls with Julie on a little I-was-out-of-town-for-four-days-and-left-you-home-with-the-kids date). I also think of myself as a teacher.

Writing is a way for me to teach, and at HighCallingBlogs.com that means writing about culture on Fridays and finding other writers to help me do the same.

My blog? Inviting marketers to become good neighbors to the consumer next door.

Dan: So you are a self-proclaimed critic and fan of advertising. How do you connect your faith to your interest in marketing and advertising?

Sam: As a critic, my faith says, “Taking advantage of a car driver’s insecurities may be funny but it isn’t any more than middle school bullying. Christ calls us to care for the disadvantaged and hurting, not run over them.”

As a fan, I’m fascinated by displays of creativity and technology and speaking clearly to a target audience. Add honor and dignity to those displays and I’ll sit up and pay attention to a vacuum ad.

Dan: You actually wrote a book on this theme…  On Earth as It is in Advertising?: Moving from Commercial Hype to Gospel Hope. What can you tell me about the book and the message that you try to send through it.

Sam: On Earth is mostly a critique. It describes how advertising often employs the “SimGospel” by simulating elements of the biblical narrative for the purpose of selling products and ideas. Essentially this means the SimGospel uses the only stuff anyone really wants: love, belonging, efficacy, tranquility – the stuff of heaven, if you will. Which is brilliantly devious for advertisers and oddly complimenting to the Gospel.

Most folks know the basic problems with pop culture advertising, so I thought it would be good to provide a deeper analysis for readers who care about the nuances.

Dan: Recently during the Super Bowl, there was an add that was a bit controversial. It was the Tim Tebow Focus on the Family ad. I’m sharing it here, but what are your initial thoughts on the ad?

Sam: I remember watching for it and then waiting for something significant to happen during it. But “nothing” happened except the airing of a decent and respectable TV commercial.

Dan: The Barna Group just released a study that they did on the effectiveness of the ad. In their analysis they mentioned that, “the ad shows the power of mainstream celebrities, like Tim Tebow, to garner attention and the related challenge for evangelical groups to get on people’s radar.” Is that a statement that you agree with? Why or why not?

Sam: Tim seems like an unusual case. In the football world, he’s enormous and he proclaims his faith in the same way. Few could garner the same attention and even fewer with this level of controversy. Having said that, plenty of Christian athletes could address this challenge but how many organizations have $3 million to shell out, or see the value in 30 seconds even if they did have the money?

Dan: The Barna analysis also pointed stated, “Faith and values intersected mainstream culture in a significant new way.” What do you think about that? Do you think that the ad had a significant impact, and what should other faith-based advertisers (and the church) learn from this ad campaign?

Sam: I should have asked David Kinnaman why he said this when I talked with him at the CCO’s Jubilee Conference last weekend! That would have been helpful, eh?

I don’t think this ad placement was terribly significant. Faith wasn’t discussed and even though a faith-based organization stood behind it, not many viewers made the connection between Tebow and Focus, as the study showed. On the other hand, college commentators always talked about Tebow’s faith during games.

And regarding values, we see PSAs frequently. Perhaps it’s more significant that so much buzz came from this particular spot.

Hmm, now I’m wondering if the same buzz would have occurred if Focus had paid for a spot on something less controversial. Like Stouffer’s, for example. Stouffer’s is doing a campaign called Let’s Fix Dinner [http://www.letsfixdinner.com/] and I think it’s great. Nobody would have cared if Focus were making ads about the healing value of eating lasagna together and yet it would have fit well with their ministry.

So (now that this answer has gone on way too long) perhaps all the buzz was really about the use of TV space as a discussion board for ethics. I’ll be interested to see what happens in 2011. Will others follow suit? The answer to that may end up being the real measure of significance.

Dan: What can people look forward to from you on HighCallingBlogs.com?

Sam: Life-changing experiences. Ha! Okay, how about cultural observations. My mom didn’t trust me to buy the right jelly, and for good reason, but folks have said I have a way of making observations. So that’s what I’ll bring to the table. Some bring organization; others, stamina, or conviction, or grace. As the culture editor for HCB, I’ll bring connections and try to share them as well as I can, either directly or through the writers I pick.

Dan: Thanks Sam! I look forward to following along more with what you do!

blogging with @thehighcalling

A couple of years ago I joined a startup network of Christian bloggers. I wasn’t sure if I would get anything out of this thing, or if I’d be able to add any value to it either. As it turns out, it was one of the best things that I’ve ever done as a blogger. I’ve discovered an online community where not only am I encouraged by some of the best Christian content on the web, but where I have an opportunity to be able to bless others in many ways.

I’d like for you to meet HighCallingBlogs.com, a part of TheHighCalling.org…

TheHighCalling.org is a ministry of the Foundations for Laity Renewal. We seek to connect people with the faith that supports and sustains all that we do. That’s why it is the high calling of our daily work. We believe God cares about our work. And we believe Christians are called to glorify God through their work. For us, work embraces all aspects and activities of daily living—including home, community, leisure, as well as occupation.

Recently I’ve taken on a new role with the Editorial Team as the network’s Social Media Editor. In this role I’ll be working on the network’s Twitter accounts (@thehighcalling and @highcallingblog), encouraging discussion on the Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/TheHighCalling), and sharing occasional posts on the website about engaging community online through social media.

The rest of the Editorial Team is made up of some amazing bloggers, authors, and people who take seriously the high calling of their daily work. And as we develop our team, each of us have been introducing the others on our own blogs, and I’d love to share some of these introductions with you here so that you can get to know this incredible team…

Gordon Atkinson (Real Live Preacher), Founding Editor

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day six: real live preacher
• The Wellspring: Community Treasures
• Seedlings in Stone: One More Reason to Join HCB (sorta

Marcus Goodyear (GoodWordEditing.com),  Senior Editor

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day seven: goodwordediting.com

L.L. Barkat (Seedlings in Stone), Managing Editor

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day twelve: love notes to yahweh

Chris Cree (SuccessCREEations), Senior Community Manager

• GoodWordEditing.com: Meet Chris Cree, Senior Editor for the High Calling Network
• The Wellspring: Our Guru: Meet Chris Cree

Laura Boggess (The Wellspring), Book Club Convener

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day eight: the wellspring
• Seedlings in Stone: Loving Monday: Show, Don’t Tell

Ann Kroeker (AnnKroeker.com), Family Editor

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day three: not so fast
• The Wellspring: Slowing Down With Ann Kroeker
• Green Inventions Central: Shoes, Twitter, and Wild Kingdoms : Talking with Ann Kroeker

Bradley J. Moore (Shrinking the Camel), Work Editor

• BibleDude.net: [12 days of awesomeness] day five: shrinking the camel
• The Wellspring: Not a Spitting Camel
• Seedlings in Stone: The Spirituality of Business

Sam Van Eman (New Breed of Advertisers), Culture Editor

• BibleDude.net: tebow, barna, and culture [an interview with sam van eman]
• NotSoFastBook.com (Ann Kroeker): Paying Attention & Listening for Motives: Interview with Sam Van Eman

And if you want to get to know me a little bit better, then check out these introductions of yours truly through the eyes of others on the HighCallingBlogs.com Editorial Team…

• The Wellspring: Dude! It’s the BibleDude!
• AnnKroeker.com: Getting to Know HCB: Meet Dan King (an interview)
• Green Inventions Central: Welcome to Dan’s House (an interview)
• Shrinking the Camel: My Other Job:Content Editor at The High Calling Blogs (whole team introduction)

I encourage you to keep up with what’s happening with the HighCallingBlogs.com network. I think that you’ll be glad that you did! This is definitely a crew that will inspire you in the high calling of your daily work.

[dillon burroughs] on using tracts in evangelism

Why don’t more people hand out tracts these days? After all, aren’t they the perfect little Gospel message in a short, easy to read, interesting format? Especially in our sound-bite culture, these straight-to-the-point presentations should have a big impact… right?

So then why to they end up in the trash can more than they do in people’s hearts?

In this portion of our conversation with Dillon, he shares why he believes tracts have lost their effectiveness. But more importantly he shares his thoughts on what you can do instead in order to be a more effective ambassador for Christ. And what he shares is probably some of the best evangelism advice that I have heard in a long time…

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Check out the rest of this conversation in the christian evangelism 101 series.

[dillon burroughs] on evangelizing to other faiths

What do you do when you encounter someone of another faith when sharing yours? Many people think they need to know everything there is about the other faith in order to refute it . But rarely does someone change their faith system because someone who knows a lot about it told them all of the reasons that they were wrong.

In this portion of our conversation with Dillon, we discuss a couple of ways that Christians can be effective when evangelizing those from other faith systems:

1. Listen to them and ask questions about what they believe. This approach doesn’t require you to know anything about the other person’s faith when you approach conversation with them. As we discussed in the previous portion of this series (on the value of listening in evangelism), listening first shows the other person that you are interested in them.
2. Share the Bible. Often people of other faiths come to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior after reading the Bible (particularly the Gospels). It’s always a good idea to have some New Testaments handy to give away when in situations like this.

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Check out the rest of this conversation in the christian evangelism 101 series.

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