Michelle Smith

I was on my way home from Gaylord recently when a creative roadside sign captured my attention. I couldn’t help but smile as I read its clever message, “Organic Firewood For Sale.” This playful spin on the value of purchasing and using natural products certainly set that seller apart from the typical firewood roadside stand. The seller obviously had a good sense of humor and used it ingeniously.

A few weeks later I happened to see a coffee shop billboard proudly proclaiming that its beverages, which were highlighted by colorful images in the background, were “Handcrafted with Love.” I was surprised by the completely different response that this promotional ad caused me to feel. I instantly felt manipulated and a bit insulted by its message.

The second message attempted to convey an exaggerated sense of value by elevating the use of the word “handcrafted” (typically referring to items that are created using traditional skills and a labor-intensive process) in the hope of persuading me to stop and spend my money.

And how can they be certain that their employees are feeling loving towards each customer as they “craft” the coffee drinks? Using the word love in this context felt trivial and devaluing of love’s deep and complex meaning.

The field of advertising and marketing has become a powerful force for influencing consumers toward deciding to purchase certain products over others. You and I, the consumer, are studied, analyzed and strategically targeted more than we realize.

As I thought about these two completely different promotional approaches, I reminded myself not to be easily influenced by enticing descriptions and outlandish claims designed to appeal to my emotions and make me think that I must have an item or I will somehow miss out.

These thoughts reminded me that Jesus did not use psychology, manipulation, branding or endorsements by well-known popular individuals to share his message. He did not “dress up” his words. Instead, he spoke a clear and distinct message, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

He did not entice or persuade. He simply spoke his message and let the hearer decide what his response to it would be.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?'” (Matthew 16:24-26)

He used stories with examples familiar to the hearer to illustrate his message and the Apostle Matthew records that, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because “he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”

He not only spoke the message of God’s Kingdom, but he demonstrated the reality of it by miraculous acts, as recorded in Matthew chapter 9.

“Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.'”

At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”

Jesus was not trying to be popular. He boldly called out the religious leaders for their outward display of piety which did not reflect their true heart condition. He chose words such as “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” and “fools” to describe them.

Yet, he welcomed the masses, speaking to them with compassion and truth, calling them out of lives of sin through repentance and a deliberate turning away from the old ways and turning to God through Jesus Christ himself.

No, Jesus did not use exaggeration or manipulation — instead, he fed people, he healed them, he showed them mercy, he laid out the truth before them and pointed them to eternal life.

Then he left the decision of what they would do with his words up to them.

Michelle Smith serves alongside her husband, Gary, as part of the leadership team of New Life Christian Fellowship. She founded Purely Women Ministries with the purpose of helping women of all ages discover their true identity as women of God. She can be reached at michelle@newlifealpena.org.