From Church Marketing Sucks

It’s Sad How Awesome Pope Francis Is

August 14, 2013 by Kevin D. Hendricks

Since Jorge Mario Bergoglio ascended to the head of the worldwide Catholic church earlier this year and became Pope Francis, he’s been garnering loads of positive headlines:

• Pope Francis calls for inclusion of gays in society, saying he has no right to ‘judge’
• Pope Calls for More ‘Social Justice’ as Workers Take to Streets
• Pope washes feet of young detainees in Holy Thursday ritual
• Pope invites homeless to Vatican dinner
• Frugal Pope Francis says no flashy car for me as he turns to second hand Fiat during visit
• Home Sweet Domus – No Palace for The Pope
• Just call me Frank: Is Pope Francis the most down-to-earth ever?
• A Papal Blessing for 35,000 Harley Riders at Vatican City
• Pope Francis is looking for bishops who have the “smell of their sheep(flock) on them”

Even if you’re not Catholic it’s encouraging to see the world’s most prominent spokesperson for Christianity getting good headlines.

People are smitten with the pope. He’s leaving behind the flashy trappings of the papacy and embracing a simpler, humbler life. When he talks about inclusion and outreach people sit up and notice. He’s even embracing the poor and downtrodden in his actions, supporting the poor, inviting the homeless to dinner and washing the feet of detainees.

The pope is actually reminding people of… Jesus.

I think that’s all kind of sad.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m loving Pope Francis. What I’m not loving is how surprising it is that the most prominent Christian in the world is acting like Jesus.

This should be standard operating procedure for every pope, bishop, pastor and priest. It should be common among everyone who sits in a pew on Sunday. Unfortunately it’s not.

You want to know how to do a better job marketing your church? I think Pope Francis is living it right now.