Creativity

I heard this guy named Shane Claiborne speak at the Urbana Missions Conference last week. (he's been getting pretty popular with the Christian social justice crowd lately). I was impressed: he spoke truth with conviction about money and justice and being a Christian. Praise God for his work.

He made one suggestion that resonated with me, especially in the context of business school. Banks and corporations spend a lot of money analyzing consumers and figuring out how to sell their products in the marketplace. At school I have grown to appreciate the depth of creativity in firms' marketing and strategy departments. These companies hire brilliant people who are trained to target consumers and pay them a lot of money. Shane suggests that Christians should aim to match corporations' commitment of creativity with our own creative efforts to preach the Gospel to the poor and proclaim release to the captives.

Just an aside: I've never felt very comfortable with marketing--it smells like manipulation, and I'm a big believer in individual freedom and choice. At the same time I see it's necessity. If a company develops a killer new product, I want to know about it. Maybe I can use this new product to improve my life. Or alternatively, maybe I can use this new device to better preach the Gospel to the poor.

But I really like Shane's point. Wouldn't it be amazing if Christians directed the same kind of fervent creativity toward ending sex trafficking that credit card companies direct toward getting consumers to go into debt? What could we accomplish? What mountains would be moved?

I have a few more thoughts on this topic, but I'll save them for later. In the meantime please watch Shane's talk below--it's compelling.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.