You want this!

Companies do indeed invest big money into making sure that they are recognizable in the community they serve by the "brand" they have invested time, talent, and energies into creating. They flash their names and photos on billboards, run numerous commercials, wrap vehicles in their 'branding', and send out mailers advertising their product. All these efforts are aimed at one thing - getting us to notice their product and show an interest in it that rises above the interest we have for any other 'similar' product. It is kind of like what God said through Moses so many years ago - "Set yourselves apart..." God was telling us to be known by our "branding" - that which makes us uniquely different from those around us and makes people want what it is that we possess.

"Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy." (Leviticus 20:7-8)

In the advertising world, branding begins with having a quality product that others will want as there is no use in spending time and talent 'branding' something that is inferior or simply not useful to those who are your target 'users' of the product. If the product is shoddy, no matter how much you invest into "branding", it will be a waste of your efforts. The product must be top-notch - there is little use in investing big capital into branding something that is just not going to measure up. Branding involves being visible in the community - the idea is getting as many people to take notice, if even ever so slightly influencing their subconscious mind. The advertising gurus will probably assure us that the more your brand is exposed to the public, the better. Companies invest huge sums of monies and talent into getting their product before the public. Why? It cements the brand with an image. An image speaks more than a catchy advertising phrase. Why? People associate with what they see more than they do with what they hear. Branding involves a commitment to provide a product that the community REALLY needs. A market inundated with similar products that are not well-differentiated from other products finds that they will go for that product that requires the least investment on their part - especially if there is no difference appreciable.

From God's perspective, he is only creating quality products - our passage points out several characteristics that will ensure that our "product" passes the "quality" test. Doing what God tells us involves living as God tells us, so that we are ensured there will be a product that can neither be labeled as "shoddy", nor a waste of efforts. Obedience produces within us what all the efforts at self-improvement could not - life transformation. Nothing is more appealing to someone without hope than to see what having a solid basis for hope can produce. God also makes us visible to others - often while we are going through some 'life-change' in which he is moving in our lives to produce a consistent picture of his grace and restorative power. Our passage does not imply that we are to live on a commune and never associate with others. Being set apart does not mean that we get "weird". It carries the idea that we have something that makes us "unique" - we stand above the rest. There is clearly a place for association with others in the faith, but that should not be our only association. Others need to see Christ in us - that exposure to Christ may be the only exposure they may have.

Another important principle in branding a product is this idea of supply and demand. Where the demand is high, the assumption is that you are creating a product that someone really needs - a unique product that no one else offers, but that everyone needs. There are a lot of "religions" in the world - organized and informal. What sets a Christ-follower out as unique is the ability of being "holy" as God is holy. Holiness is evident in a life that is changed by the Spirit of God within. The ability to steer clear of the gossip chain, the tendency to shy away from coarse or off-color jokes, or the simplicity of making ethical choices because that is the way you have come to live - these seem simple enough, but they serve to set us apart from other "religions" in the world. It is more than doing good deeds for the sake of doing them - it is a matter of engaging in right conduct because that is what stems from the core of your inner man.

How do we live in such a way that others see something in us that makes them want what we have been given? We allow God to live in us - we allow him to make us holy (branding at its best!). Set apart lives are not "branded" in some weird way, but are uniquely beautiful and appealing to others who will want to be in relationship with the 'product' that has been produced. Others want what we have allowed to be worked out in our lives because they see a sense of hope for their own life. That is what God wants of us - to give the world hope. Hope is best understood when it is exemplified - there is a "product" people can connect with. Believe it or not, you are a "product" of God's grace. Let your life be displayed as set apart for his service, dedicated to his love, and uniquely touched by his grace. Others will be drawn to him through your example. Just sayin!

Going for the Gold

Evidence of victory - the Gold Medal of an Olympian victory.  I haven't caught much of the Winter Games so far, but I know the Canadians won against the Swedes in hockey because my Canadian relatives posted the win!  It amazes me to see an 18-year hold slalom down the hillside at rocket speed and come across in gold medal timing.  The games are tough, the competition among the best of the best, and the changes of winning only tenths of a second away from losing.  As the games draw to a close, the winners head for the winner's circle - taking their place on the first, second and third place platforms.  The Gold Medal is the prized and most coveted of all - one which holds the greatest honor and reward.  Yet, so few actually achieve such a huge honor - though many will have worked with unceasing dedication to their sport.  One evidence of victory display is the prized medal - another evidence of victory display is the transformation of a life by the sacrificial effort of another. The one medal is placed in a trophy case for display and reflection.  The other "medal" is placed into a life for it to continually display and to give a renewable reflection of the one at work within.

I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.  (I Peter 1:6-7 MSG)

It is our faith which becomes a sign of the work within.  As it grows, we stand more confident - not self-assured because we have trained well, but "Christ-assured" because he has made us strong on every side.  Over the weekend, our pastor began a new series in which the first topic of exploration was this idea of being in the world, but not really of it.  He used an awesome illustration which has spoken to me over and over so far this week.  Here it is: We can either be thermostats or thermometers.  Thermometers adjust to the environment they are within - just becoming hot or cold to whatever they are influenced the most by.  Thermostats, on the other hand, adjust the environment to where they are.  They make the environment change - rather than being changed by the environment.

I think this is important as we study this idea of our faith being proven - coming out strong and standing solid.  Why?  Simply put - our faith is on display for others to see - it is there to act as a thermostat - not as a thermometer.  We effect others by what is on display in our lives - Christ puts much on display in our live circumstances and our responses to these.  As we respond, the way we respond is registered and becomes a means of validating the work we are engaged in alongside Christ.  

Medal adorn the man - but are short lived.  When the next person breaks the record in the next four years, the medal will all but be talked about as in past tense.  The "gold refined in fire" God desires for our lives will adorn our lives with a permanence of beauty and an enduring quality of Christ-like character.

Not sure what "medals" you might be pursuing today - suffice it to say I think most are pursuing the gold.  But it isn't the metal of the medal which makes the man, but the fiber within (the character we put on display in pursuit of the medal).  Just sayin!