Among business disciplines, David J. Hagenbuch notes that marketing may be the field that is perceived least often as compatible with Christian vocation. However, when one considers that the central purpose of Christian vocation is reconciliation, that reconciliation is linked inextricably to exchange, and that marketing is the science that facilitates mutually beneficial exchange, it is right to suggest that marketing can be practiced as part of a Christian vocation.
This question is not meant to suggest that these disciplines are uninteresting or not conducive to Christian service. In fact, the implication is exactly the opposite: To a great extent, people seem to accept these and many other fields as ones in which people readily do work that is honoring to God. Marketing, however, enjoys few such positive associations. Marketing is a major at a large number of Christian colleges and universities, yet students often seem to be the recipients of a conflicting message that marketing is not an acceptable field in which to serve God.
Unlike other works that have dealt with Christian responses to certain marketing-related ethical issues more superficially, this paper delves deeper into the core of both belief sets, those of marketing and of Christianity, by explicating two intimately related concepts, reconciliation and exchange. In doing so, the paper develops the following important linkage between Christian vocation and marketing: The main purpose of Christian vocation is reconciliation; reconciliation is related inextricably to exchange; exchange is the underlying social behavior that marketing directs; consequently, the proper practice of marketing facilitates mutually beneficial exchange, which fosters reconciliation and thereby supports Christian vocation.
I will now treat the first two concepts, vocation and reconciliation, and support how they are intimately related. Much has been written about vocation, and while it is not my intention to review the breath and depth of literature, I do feel the need to present my own understanding of the concept.
Vocation derives from the Latin verb vocare, to call, and from a biblical perspective, that caller is God. As such, a vocation is a unique, individualized calling, often not discovered easily, that requires specific talents, offers true enjoyment, and accomplishes something of value.
