What the Bible Teaches About Advertising
About this episode
Roy H. Williams discusses the implications of a biblical parable on advertising strategies.
I received an email last Thursday from my friend Doug Burdon in which he mentions a story told by Jesus. That story is often called “The Parable of the Sower and the Seed.” The story goes like this: A farmer is slinging seed. Some of the seed falls on the compacted soil of the pathway where the birds came and ate it. Seeds fall on rocky soil where it spouts, then dies because the soil is thin. Some of the seed falls among thorns where it sprouts, then gets choked out by the aggressive weeds. Seeds fall on good soil where it returns a massive harvest. Doug referred to that story to make an altogether different point than the one that I am about to make, but I think that there is a solid chance that Doug would agree with me. Look at the sower of the seed as an advertiser, and the seed itself as the message that his advertising contains. You will notice that Jesus did not say, “Target the good soil.” (He does not say it in Matthew 13, He does not say it in Mark 4, and He does not say it in Luke 8. ) Think about that for a moment; a pathway is easy to see. Rocky ground and thorny patches are likewise obvious. Why did Jesus NOT tell us to avoid spreading seed in places where it is…
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