I went shopping at Ikea yesterday. It was a quick trip, but it’s always a cool place to shop. I think the church could learn a few lessons from the Ikea evangelists.

For starters, we had breakfast for a buck. And it was good They’ve got to be losing money on food! So why do they do it? A Harvard Business School case study on Ikea said they practice a form of “gentle coersion.” They want to keep customers as long as possible! That’s why they have a playroom. That’s why they serve food.

Genius.

They’re doing a better job at gentle coersion than most churches

Ikea Idea #1

Practice gentle coersion

Make church an enjoyable experience! When I was a kid I used to count the seconds till church was done It was boring! We had an order of service printed in the bulletin. I used to check things off It’s all I remember from my early church experience

I want church to be enjoyable! I want people to leave wanting more! It’s not just about satisfying hunger. It’s about whetting appetite!

By the way, a really cool playroom for kids and breakfast for a buck isn’t a bad place to start

Ikea Idea #2

Experiment all the time.

Ikea replaces a third of it’s product line every year! They keep it fresh and new. They’re always introducing new innovations.

We need new wineskins. It’s about telling the old story in new ways. The message is sacred. The method isn’t

Ikea Idea #3

Celebrate the story

They had a 1950s picture hanging on the wall that celebrates their humble beginnings. Ikea is more than a furniture store. It’s a furniture story. They’ve turned their 90,000 employees into Ikea evangelists.

Jesus was the quintessential story-teller.

Ikea Idea #4

Put Yourself in the Shopper’s shoes

Ikea gives free pencils and paper measuring tapes. Why? Because they think like their customers. That is so simple, but who else is doing it? No one that I know of. They are geniuses at getting in the shoes of their shoppers. And that helps them get in the pocketbooks too

Isn’t that what incarnation is all about? Walking in someone sandals. The church ought to set the incarnation standard!

Ikea Idea #5

Aesthetics are important

Ikea is fanatical about their displays. They make them as lifelike as possible. In fact, their displays are so lifelike that one writer is staging a play at an Ikea in Renton, Wash.

Ikea Idea #6

Do Something Crazy to Get Attention

Ikea gave away $4,000 in gift certificates to the first person in line at the opening of it’s new store in Atlanta. Roger Penguino threw a tent in his car and set it up. He camped out for seven days! By the time the store opened more than 2,000 fanatics were watiing with him. They gave prizes to the first 100 customers. It was a carnival atmosphere. We’re talking about funiture

By the way, that Ikea now treats Roger Penguino like a celebrity Aren’t we called to treat people like angels? I think that’s a step above celebrity

Ikea Idea #7

Get the Word Out

Ikea printed more than 160 million Ikea catalogs. They claim to have printed more Ikea catalogs than Bibles. Does that challenge anyone else?