Innovation vs. Duplication

This has long been a controversial topic in the Christian church and probably a topic that will never find it’s way into extinction either. Innovation or duplication? That, my friends, is the real question.

As a Graphic Designer at a fairly prominent church, I am charged with the task of coming up with innovative and creative graphics that will help communicate the message to our attendees and hopefully help them make a visual connection to the topic at hand. I also carry a personal burden to make sure that the graphic pieces that I produce are pushing our current boundaries and are somehow visually relevant to cultural trends.

This is where the heart of the question lies: how close can we, as the church, come to duplicating what is currently “hot” in pop-culture, chalk it up to being “culturaly relevant” and at the same time, not feel guilty about completely ripping something off? At that point, can we truly say that we are being “innovative“? Are we really breaking new ground? Or are we simply following one close step behind the world and playing copy-cat to whatever they do so that we can be considered a “relevant church”?

I wholeheartedly believe that we, as the Christian church, have so much more to offer than the next “hot” thing in pop-culture. We have a timeless God and timeless truths that can easily be communicated with a culturaly relevant twist. If that is truly the case, why do churches find it necessary to practice duplication and call it innovation? I’ve often heard it said that if the church “has God on it’s side” then shouldn’t we be able to stay one step ahead of pop-culture anyway? I’m not sure I can say that having God on my side will make me a better designer than someone who doesn’t. However, I do know that because I’m a follower of Christ, and I believe that the Holy Spirit works through me and inspires me; that should be enough to keep me, and the rest of the Christian church, right in stride with the rest of the world. What really gets me is when I see churches, whether big or small, simply sell themselves short by mimicking pop-culture and pawning it off as being relevant or even worse, innovative. So that begs the question… What makes a church truly innovative? What makes a church truly relevant? I’m tired of seeing propaganda designed to encourage churches to find innovation in their communication, when all they see is duplication.

So where should we stand on this topic of innovation vs. duplication? Can we push the visual and cultural boundaries of communication without duplication? Absolutely! There are successful churches all over the country that are doing this and they are doing it well. Be inspired by the Spirit; and TRULY innovate… don’t duplicate.