St. Paul, an early marketing genius

Having lived for almost 14 years in Israel, I decided a few months ago that it was time to learn a little more about the country and enrolled in Israel history studies. A significant part of Israel’s history is closely tied to Christianity, and I was intrigued by how successful Christianity has been in spreading the Word throughout the world. Today 33% of the people in the world are Christians.

Jesus himself had some good marketing moves up his sleeve. Healing the sick and the blind, telling them to keep it a secret is of course a great way to spread rumors. But even so, Saint Paul was primarily responsible for taking his Word to the rest of the world.

Saul of Tarsus (later known as Saint Paul) was a Jew born a few years after Jesus in AD 5 in a small town in what is now known as southern Turkey. He started out as a fierce antagonist and accuser of the early Christians, and even participated in the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. He changed his mind when he was sent to Damascus to bring back Jews who had abandoned their faith and converted to Christianity.

On his way a strong light hit him. He falls off his horse to the ground and goes blind. Suddenly a voice speaks to him. “Saul! Saul! Why are you so cruel to me? “Who are you?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus,” answered the Lord. I am the one you are so cruel to. Now get up and go to the city , where they will tell you what to do. The Lord sent Ananias, a healer, to see again. Saul was converted and became a believer.

Saint Paul (Saul) returns to Jerusalem and meets the students of Jesus. In AD 50 the apostles hold a Conference (the Jerusalem Council) where they do some serious strategic thinking. Since Israel as a Beta market had disappointing results, the Jewish people were not willing to buy their ideas; They decided it was time to focus on different markets. They made some major adjustments to their “service”, knowing that their mostly pagan target groups abroad don’t like some of the original ideas, mainly regarding circumcision and kosher food.

Paul is the perfect candidate to be vice president of marketing and sales.

As a man of the world, he traveled the Roman Empire and was born and raised among his new target group. He is familiar with their traditions and experienced the conversion firsthand; he knows exactly what it is to win and how to sell. When it came to effectively spreading the message, Paul’s command of Greek and Hebrew and his political acumen proved to be extraordinary tools, which he used to great advantage. He was so resoundingly successful that today no trace remains of those who believed that Jesus Christ, instead of founding a new religion, had tried to advance the teachings of an existing spiritual tradition.

From then on, he traveled throughout the Roman Empire (Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Italy, Spain, etc.) preaching to the majority of the worshiping pagans on how to live a Christian life. His persistence played a major role in establishing Christianity outside of the land of Israel and undoubtedly earned the title from him. His life as vice president of Christian Marketing was not easy at the time. As he writes in 2 Corinthians 11:23b-38, “I have worked much harder, been in prison more often, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.”

Since Paul couldn’t be everywhere at once, he started writing a blog; writing letters back and forth with groups of Christians abroad. Giving advice on problems they encounter and providing great content on how to become a good Christian. His letters are called epistles and the church considered them so important that today’s Bible consists of 14 of his letters that add up to almost 30% of the content of the New Testament.

Every marketing executive could learn a thing or two from St. Paul about getting to the “tipping point” and matching offers to the market.

Saint Paul is said to have been beheaded during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *