Hamburg, Germany — In the present climate of insecurity and risk, many advertisers are trying to get back to basics. It’s hard to get further back than the work of award-winning, renowned German ad executive Eva Jung. Her product is God, the Lord Almighty.

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not worry because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7

Jung has written and designed for the most respected ad agencies in Germany. But, all the while, a question has nagged and haunted her: why has so little advertising expertise and acumen been used to tell the world about the Lord?

To bridge the gap between advertising and the gospel, she launched www.godnews.de two and a half years ago. On this website, she features what she calls “e-Godcards,” as well as wallpapers and presentations that provide thought-provoking messages.

While Jung is aware of the many moral issues that advertising can raise, she affirms that the integrity of the practice is solely dependent upon the quality and virtues of the product being promoted. For Jung, advertising is much broader than the mind-numbing, repetitive TV spots that most people associate with the word. She suggests that “if the desire of one’s heart is to be an evangelist, you must be an advertiser. Actually, advertising and evangelism are the same thing.”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12:3

Christians, she says, are not very good at making their product known. We often use insider language and are weak on innovation. “I do not know of any brand that runs the same ad campaign for years and years. While Coca-Cola always has the same formula and the same taste, the ways of promoting it are continually changing. This is how I want to promote God.”

Some Christians might feel uncomfortable viewing God as a product or might even consider this to be blasphemous. Does God really need our help to increase his brand awareness? One might wonder whether what we are able to say and do could possibly add to God’s work, through the Holy Spirit, of making himself known to believers.

Jesus Christ: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world! John 16:33

“I think there are two common mistakes Christians make,” she says. “First, we try to do things that are God’s responsibility and, therefore, only he can do. Second, we don’t do the things God commissioned us to do a long ago.” Jung sees exploiting human means, such as advertising, as accomplishing what God has commissioned us to do.

Jung’s work utilizes an element of surprise. “God is loving and approachable, he turns to us instead of having us search for him in vain. This is something that people today are not familiar with and do not expect to hear. God is not what most people think he is.

“The depths of who God is are unfathomable, indescribable, so immeasurable that it makes trying to present his identity difficult, indeed. Every individual aspect of him would require a separate and, lifelong, advertising campaign to even scratch the surface.” This concept, of an unending series of advertising campaign to promote God in our culture, is one of Jung’s dreams.

A focus on churches and how Christians can improve their ways of promoting God is also very much on her heart. “What I would really like to do is to train churches in how to advertise. Churches might not have great financial power, but their main advantage, in contrast to almost any secular company, is their incredible manpower. Most people in churches are very motivated to be advertising vehicles themselves, whether it be by wearing a certain t-shirt, or in both their lives online and in the real world.”

“If the apostle Paul walked this planet today, I’m sure he would be an advertiser,” Jung says. “It’s amazing how he used the concept of the unknown god to preach the gospel by giving that concept a new meaning, one that pointed to the one true and living God. God gave him, and gives us, the freedom and his blessing to do things beyond our human conception.”

Harnessing that freedom and finding new and creative ways of communicating the gospel is at the heart of Eva’s mission. She suggests that all Christian should join her in this task.

Ilona Mahel writes for ERF Media, an evangelical broadcasting company in Germany [www.erf.de and http://kulturgut.erf.de]. She also works as a freelance author and translator [www.ilona-mahel.de]. In 2004, she co-authored, Fischen mit Netz (Fishing With A Net), a book on web evangelism.