An Ad in the Making

Every day, I'm bombarded when I'm scrolling through Facebook or Instagram or anywhere else on the web with ads for things I should buy. 

 

Wraps that magically make people skinny, creams that erase stretch marks and wrinkles, powders and shakes that make people lose half their body weight in three days. 

 

And lots of times, the ads for these include a dramatic side-by-side comparison--the first being the before product and the second being after X uses of the product.  Sometimes, I can't tell a difference between the two.  Sometimes, it's all attributed to lighting, filters, or clever makeup tricks. But what really tickles me is that many of them have obvious evidence of Photoshop--I can literally see where someone took his or her fingers and blurred away the imperfections.

 

And they're marketed as change.  Results!  Amazing!  Mind-blowing!

 

And while I respect the people who sell them and the fact that some of these products may have real results beneath the Photoshop finish, I keep scrolling and laugh.

 

Why?

 

Because I'm not buying THAT! Those results aren't real! They're manufactured!  They don't at all do what they say they will!  The product might in fact be good, but the advertising is false.

 

Now.  Redirect.

 

Let's apply this logic to Christians.  Yeah, that name that once bore a holy aura of kindness and generosity and purity.  That name that is now quickly becoming associated with bigotry, judgment, and hatred.

 

What happened? What happened that we are now some of the most loathed people in the country?  In the world?

 

Well, you say, the Gospel is offensive.  People don't want to repent or turn from their wicked ways.  They don't want to see the light.  People don't want to hear the truth.

 

You're absolutely right.  People don't want to hear the truth.  Including us.

 

Perhaps you're an evangelical bothered by the state our country is in currently.  You look for every opportunity to blog or tweet, "Jesus, come NOW!!!"  There's abortion!  Gays are getting married! There's porn everywhere! Drugs! Drunkenness!  The horror!  THE HORROR!!!  MAKE IT END OR AT LEAST LET ME BE ABLE TO SHOP IN TARGET WITHOUT FEAR OF MY BLADDER EXPLODING BECAUSE OF THEIR TRANSGENDER BATHROOMS!!

 

Deep breath.  Calm down.  And hear me out.

 

You are a walking ad for the kingdom.  At all times.  You are an "after" piece showing the world what Jesus can do with a sinner.

 

Now, we are as lucky as we can be because the product we are selling (Jesus) is flawless.

 

FLAWLESS!

 

He gives real, authentic results.  He's life-changing when we really let him in.

 

We have a perfect product.  And to top it off, it's FREE!  That's a recipe for something that should sell itself.

 

AND PEOPLE STILL DON'T WANT TO BUY IT BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE ADVERTISE IT.

 

Someone can't be changed by Jesus if they've never actually met him.

 

Could it be?  Maybe we're turning people away by introducing them to a Jesus that doesn't really exist?

 

Join me in a marketing meeting over the next six days, and we'll explore some of the biggest lies we're perpetuating (whether accidentally or on purpose, indirectly or directly) that are causing the world to run like mad in the other direction.

 

This campaign we currently have going--it's not working for us.

 

Let's get back to the drawing board.