An Analysis of "The Man Nobody Knows"

According to Bruce Barton, Jesus was the consummate business entrepreneur. Barton's book, The Man Nobody Knows: A Discovery of the Real Jesus,[1] opens with the line "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (p. 3, emphasis his). Barton's implication is that Jesus was the equivalent of the contemporary businessman in the modern day marketplace.

Jesus the Businessman

Barton's central assertion is that Jesus' conduct was conducive to modern-day marketing techniques and represented a solid understanding of advertising principles. Barton challenged the church of his day (The Man Nobody Knows was published in 1925) to learn from Jesus' insights in this area in order that it may have a voice in contemporary society.

Like all good marketers, Jesus knew how to get the public's attention. His controversial and unpredictable lifestyle ensured that no one could accuse him of being dull. The unfolding drama of his unconventional life provoked and sustained the general public's interest. Barton proves this by presenting a day in the life of Jesus from Matthew 9 -- assuming that it is "a detailed account of a single day's work" (p. 127) -- in the form of attention-grabbing headlines.

Contemporary Christian ministers who oversee predictable scheduled preaching services should learn a lesson from Jesus' example (p. 136). Jesus knew better than to bore the people with long-winded messages. Like any good advertiser, Jesus knew that brevity was important in keeping people's attention. Because of this, Jesus' preaching was only incidental to his ministry. After all, he "did not come to establish a theology but to lead a life" (p. 136).  His sermons were merely "explanatory of his service" (p. 137).

If Jesus were alive today, he would most certainly make his presence known in the contemporary marketplace through the use of advertising. "One thing is certain: he would not neglect the market-place" (p. 138). According to Barton, "He would be a national advertiser today, I am sure, as he was the great advertiser of his own day" (p. 140), making his message known amidst the variety of products available on the marketplace.

Jesus' use of parables demonstrated his marketing genius, since people are, above all, "interested in other people" (p. 141, emphasis his). Jesus pandered to this basic need through his use of short, compact, and easy-to-grasp human-interest stories (p. 143). Jesus did not waste his time teaching general truths, knowing abstract principles and truths would not be remembered (p. 141).

Barton concludes by offering four points that advertisers should learn from Jesus:

Be short and concise. The Bible describes creation in only 600 words. Jesus' invitation to others was simply "Follow me" (p. 147). Some of the most memorable things are brief, such as the Gettysburg Address (250 words) the Lord's prayer (68 words), and the 23^rd Psalm (128 Words) (p. 148). Lengthy explanations are boring. Jesus "hated prosy dullness" and "praise[d] the Centurion who was anxious not to waste his time" (p. 148).

Use simple language. Jesus used no long words and his illustrations were simply taken from everyday living (p. 150). "There is hardly a sentence in his teaching which a child can not understand" (p. 149).

Be sincere in your presentation. Jesus denounced the insincerity of the Pharisees as incompatible with God's message (p. 152).

Repeat the message again and again. All important truths must be stated more than once to remain in the public's attention. Jesus used many stories to make the same big idea (p.154).

Analyzing Barton's Business-Christ

Barton's conclusions are generally unconvincing. His strained anachronistic exegesis is a standard element in most, if not all, of his arguments. His use of Jesus' statement, "I must be about my Father's business," as a foundation for Jesus' connection to modern-day business is a representative example of his errant exegetical style. Likewise, reductionism pervades his analysis of Jesus' life and teaching. His view of Jesus is unable to account for the entirety of biblical revelation concerning the person and work of Christ. This is a standard flaw when viewing Jesus through one filter or model.

Barton admits in his opening words that we tend to view Jesus in a way that most appeals to ourselves (p. 124). As an advertising man, Barton sees Jesus as the ultimate advertising man. Barton could be charged with the same error of which Father George Tyrell accused Adolf von Harnack's writings: "The Christ that Harnack sees, looking back through nineteen centuries of Catholic darkness, is only the reflection of a Liberal Protestant face, seen at the bottom of a deep well." Although Barton is willing to admit that our own perception and biases most certainly prejudice our view of Jesus, he should be more wary of the negative implications of such a narrow perspective.

Barton's statements concerning Jesus' preaching reflect his theological naiveté. Barton states that "His preaching was almost incidental" (p. 136). In contrast, the Gospel accounts consistently emphasize the centrality of Jesus' preaching and teaching ministry (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:18, 43-44). Barton also states that Jesus only preached a long sermon once in his ministry (p. 136).  Barton does not seem to recognize that the gospel accounts of Jesus' preaching are merely summaries and not word-for-word transcripts.

Jesus was not as committed to simplistic teaching as Barton proposes. Barton even suggests that Jesus' teaching consisted primarily of one-syllable words. This is inconsistent with the biblical accounts of Jesus' teaching. There are plenty of hard and difficult statements in Jesus' teaching. The Gospel of John alone is full of profound and complex sayings. Furthermore, Barton's comments concerning Jesus' use of one-syllable simple words reveals his inability to recognize that the Greek words behind their respective English words often contain more than one syllable.

Finally, Barton's understanding of Jesus message has far more in common with the Social Gospel teachings prevalent in his time than with the traditional Evangelical view. Barton summarizes Jesus' message as "God is your father… His Kingdom is happiness! His rule is love" (p. 155). Jesus appears as a positive-thinking motivator, bent on inspiring people in order to bring out their best.

In short, Barton seems completely unable to see how much his own experiences are read into Jesus' life and teaching. Barton interprets Jesus' life and message as if he lived in early 20^th century America. This results in a constant stream of strained anachronistic exegesis.

Implications for the Church

Although Barton's imbalanced interpretation of Jesus may appear like an innocent oversight, his message ends up flawed because of it. Anything in the Christian life that demands careful, faithful, long-term devotion is open to the accusation of being an unnecessary encumbrance to the Gospel message. But this is misleading in relation to the nature of discipleship. Relationships are difficult and demand time, patience, and sustained interest. A relationship with the Lord is not exempt from the need for these qualities. Furthermore, a relationship with God's people and a commitment to God's gospel will call for even more sustained determination and long-suffering. These are hardly commendable elements of the gospel message when the focus is on marketability, simplicity, and brevity.

Barton opened the door to what now appears to be a standard feature in American Christianity -- marketing the gospel. It is hardly stretching matters to suggest that Bruce Barton and one of the most popular voices in American Evangelicalism, George Barna, are similar in perspective, message, and model. Barna believes "the major problem plaguing the Church is its failure to embrace a marketing orientation in what has become a marketing-driven environment."[2] Like Barton, Barna presents the Bible as "Exhibit A" in his series of proofs defending his thesis.[3] "The Bible is one of the world's great marketing texts."[4] Jesus, as the master marketing specialist, "communicated His message in diverse ways, and with results, that would be a credit to modern advertising and marketing agencies."[5] According to Barna the church is not only in a market but is itself a business. Its product is a relationship with Jesus and each local church is a franchise.

Obviously, there must be some common forum in which the gospel can receive a hearing, but it is dangerous to make that common forum a place of trade and profit. The ramifications of treating a relationship with Jesus Christ as a product and the gospel as Jesus' advertisement are devastating. At the very least, it is bound to impact the communication and (even worse) the content of the message.

Barton does offer a few valid insights having to do with the nature of communication. Obviously, simplicity is helpful in communicating a message. It does no good to proclaim a message no one can understand. Also, sincerity and repetition are bound to have an effect on the hearer. But, simplicity, in the long run, may actually hinder true maturity and progress in the Christian faith. There are many difficult elements to work through in the Christian life. Also, the constant repetition of a "simple gospel" may discourage a believer from ever pressing deeper into the full implications of the gospel in all areas of his or her life.

Conclusion

In short, Jesus was not a marketer. The Jesus Bruce Barton saw was merely Barton's own reflection at the bottom of a deep well. It is dangerous to anachronistically read our cultural particularities into Jesus' life and teaching. Perhaps nothing so highlights the need to better understand the impact of culture on a person and his message -- both in the past and in the present. In order to understand the person and message of Jesus and translate that message to our own lives, we must first understand Jesus' unique cultural setting and consider in what ways our cultural setting is similar and different. Failing to do this leads to forcing Jesus into our mold, rather than our being transformed into his image.

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© Richard J. Vincent, October 24, 2000