Save a life. Get a free book?

June 21, 2010 in Christian Living

This is the second time I’ve seen additional incentives offered for child sponsorship.

The first was with Compassion (‘Uncomfortable about child sponsorship‘). The second I came across today, courtesy of Children International. This was the ad I saw on the Bible Gateway website:

If I sponsor Maria, I’ll get a free copy of Rick Warren’s ‘The Purpose Driven Life‘.

Here’s what I said last time I saw this technique being used:

“I’m all for getting more child sponsors, but something about this promotion made me feel a little uncomfortable. Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because this kind of promotion is so common in our world (e.g. “buy two pizzas, get a free coke and garlic bread”). Perhaps I feel uncomfortable because the intrinsic value of the children themselves should be a good enough incentive to sponsor a child. I can’t put my finger on it, but it just doesn’t sit well with me as a marketing strategy.”

I don’t feel any more comfortable with it 7 months on. How about you?

  • http://kirribillikim.blogspot.com KIM

    Yeah, I think I’m with you … it’s maybe not necessarily out and out terrible, but it sits quite uncomfortably.

  • david

    Hi Steve,

    I used to think the same thing. But as i see it there are 3 options:

    1. The rich western world finds enough compassion to offer the level of support that is needed – purely out of altruism and generosity – and we multiply our giving several-fold totally out of kindness and having a heart for other human beings.
    2. Incentives like this are offered.
    3. Children die

    I may be sceptical, but i don’t think i’ll live long enough to see option 1 (not sure anyone will) so it’s a choice between 2 or 3. My test for which i’d prefer is to ask one of the children in question.

    So I imagine walking up to an african kid and saying “Ok, i could give you food, shelter, education, and basic health – but i’ve decided not to because some bloggers in rich countries might feel some discomfort”. That’s when i feel embarrased.

    I really don’t think i can ask one african kid (let alone thousands) to suffer years of starvation, and then die, just so i can feel a little less discomfort.
    ———————-
    I would suggest that the ‘enemy’ here is not the marketing campaign, but what causes it. Sadly even so-called christians can be more motivated by extending their book or dvd collection, than by saving a child. Why? Because despite Jesus’ teachings we (as humans) tend to care more about ourself than others. And sometimes this manifests itself in caring more about our discomfort about marketing than about poor children.

    I actually admire these organisations for leveraging what is (in cost price terms) probably $5 worth of material into so much more. Like turning water into wine, whoever is giving away these items is managing to transform our selfishness into compassion, and our greed into kindness. Now that’s a miracle! :)

  • http://mediaoutreach.com/2010/06/consumerism-in-the-church/ Consumerism in the Church | Media Outreach

    [...] Another example I ran across is from the Communicate Jesus blog. This post entitled “Save a life. Get a free book?” [...]