Let Your Marketing Match Your Mission
Some time ago, I saw an online video commercial of a private secular University promoting its online graduate programs. The background music for the commercial? It was “This Little Gospel Light of Mine.”
There is a trend in education where schools of all stripes and levels try to tap into the spiritual yearnings of prospective students by using words and concepts like meaning, purpose, calling, legacy, inspiration, faith, hope…even eternity. I’ve seen state universities and public P-12 schools promote themselves as places to “find your calling.” I’ve witnessed schools celebrate themselves as places that offer parents the chance to help their children make their dreams come true, even as teachers or professors at these schools sometimes undermine the very Christian beliefs and character that parents taught & nurtured in their children.
Many schools use these spiritual terms because their market research indicates that such words tap into a deep and widespread yearning in people, a persistent void, a craving for meaning and significance, a desire for “unfailing love” (Proverbs 19) and a perpetual grappling with the eternity that is “in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Now, we find ourselves in a time when some secular schools are appropriating the words of Christian spirituality to somehow suggest that what they have to offer is about equipping you to shine with the light of the Gospel. Only they do not teach the Gospel, and it is my suspicion that you will not hear them speak about the love of God in Jesus Christ.
There is no recognition that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Romans 3:23-24).
There is no reminder that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).
The name Jesus is not spoken in these places, nor is there a calling to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
There is no challenge to “no longer conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Romans 12:2).
There is no mentoring and equipping people to “always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that you have…” (1 Peter 3:15).
There is no discipleship of the mind.
There is no fundamental mission of nurturing people of Christian conviction, character, and courage to be salt and light in the world.
For that, I invite people to consider a school where the Holy Scriptures are supreme, where people are invited to “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and where education is done at the intersection of faith and learning, where people are taught to think about complex issues in “Christian categories” (as T.S. Eliot writes). Whether it is a preschool, elementary school, high school, or university, if these are things people value, I invite them to vote with their choice of school.
As a Christian school, to the extent that you lean into your distinctly Christian identity, you have all these things to offer and more. In such an era, our marketing can reflect our mission in a deep, undeniable, authentic way. If you are leading or serving in a Christian school, you have the joy of being able to advertise in ways that match what you do each day—who your school is at its core. Then, you can invite students and families to come and see for themselves. You can urge them not to take your word for it. While some try to convince students and families that they have something transcendent to offer, you can show them.
Disclaimer: Do you use AI to write the articles on Substack? The ethical use of AI is an important topic. When new technologies emerge, they often evolve faster than our ability to make sense of the ethical implications. As such, I offer this disclaimer to provide a transparent picture of my own journey and approach. I’ve already made mistakes, even embarrassing ones, but I will strive to quickly learn from them and provide a transparent view of my present approach. As such, this disclaimer will be updated over time.
The full initial draft (in writing or as an audio dictation), words, and ideas for my Substack articles always come from me. From there, I sometimes use AI for editing Substack articles. I regularly use Grammarly and/or Microsoft Word’s built-in Spellcheck or Grammar Check (both of which are a form of AI) to aid in proofreading and editing my work on Substack. In instances where I use AI for something other than background research or editing my original work, you can expect that I will cite or note it in the article.
I also regularly use DALL-E to generate the images for many articles. In addition, I sometimes use royalty free images. If credit is required by law, requested by the creator, or simply the courteous thing to do, you can expect to see the credits right below the image.
I continue to evolve in my experimentation with the use of ChatGPT, Grok, CoPilot (and various other ChatBot technologies) to serve as an editor for my Substack publications.
What does this mean? There are three common scenarios, though I hope to experiment with others in the future (and I will update this accordingly):
I write a full first draft in Word, Grammarly, or a word processor, and then submit it to the ChatBot, asking it to serve as an editor and give me feedback, akin to how I have one or more people edit almost anything that is published in my formal capacity. This is also similar to how editors review my manuscripts when they are submitted to a journal, newspaper, or book publisher. By the way, when I write for any of these partners/publishers, I never use AI beyond the basic spellcheck / grammar check available in Microsoft Word (or Grammarly if permitted by the publisher)—not even to use and then cite it.
I record myself speaking on a topic and then place the recording in a ChatBot to transcribe, remove disfluencies, and provide a draft transcript that I can refine before publishing it. This is where I’ve made the most past mistakes. Because the ChatBot is transcribing, it adds its own grammatical interpretations and even takes liberty with sub-titles, organization, corrections, and adding clarifying language. As such, I’m still learning to use prompts that ensure my words, voice, style, and intent dominate—while also achieving a quality, personal, but streamlined approach to sharing ideas. Because this is an evolving practice for me, and also because it sometimes creates a final draft that can be flagged as AI-generated content, expect that when I use this approach, it will be noted at the beginning or end of the article.
I use ChatBots to conduct background research related to topics that I’m writing about, akin to an interactive and advanced search engine. If there are quotes or unique ideas that I include in the article, you can expect that I will give some sort of citation or in-text credit.