A few weeks ago I watched the very first Larry King replacement show hosted by Piers Morgan on CNN. Piers interviewed Oprah Winfrey. While I wasn't wowed by Piers, I was taken by one of his questions. He asked Oprah, "What's your brand?"
Piers Morgan pushed Oprah to respond with words and phrases like: Power, Influence, World Domination, Political Clout, A Network that Controls the World. Oprah wouldn't go for those. After being pushed to summarize her "brand," Oprah responded with one word:
Love.
She went on to describe her heartfelt hope that people feel loved because of who she is and what she offers. She wanted that love to be transmitted to others in an unbroken chain of "paying it forward."
Piers was shocked. He pushed back. But Oprah wouldn't budge. Love it was. That is what would define her to the world.
You probably see where I'm going. What if Piers Morgan asked the church what its brand is these days?
What might outside observers answer?
What might the church itself answer?
I wonder if the word "love" would come up at all?
Jesus made the brand He desired very clear: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).
Read John 17 and you'll see Jesus' branding effort all over the place. Review the entire book of 1 John and see the direction the Scriptures send us. Take a look at the book of James and ponder how God wants our faith to be worked out in love.
But is love (Gospel love, the true love of God) really what we're about? Henri Nouwen said, "Power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life" (In the Name of Jesus, p.59).
In "The Divine Conspiracy" Dallas Willard commented that perhaps our outcomes are not in spite of what we do but because of it. Could the stalled and suspect church of the western world be an exact result of what we're making it?
What if the brand spoken of by Jesus took hold in our hearts and actions? What if love prevailed in congregations and communities? What transformation would take place? What new and exciting ministry would result? Who might be rescued from eternal death and live a lifetime of contagious love as they traveled the road to eternal life with Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment