We all have a vision of how our perfect world looks, how our future mate looks, how our perfect children will look, how we will make our fortune, and how we will show the result of our fortune. Many may call this vision imagination or a dream; some may call it a style while others see all of this as a personal legacy. In today’s world, we call it choosing our brand. It is not an uncommon concept because we all want to be remembered. We want people to know that we left a footprint known as our legacy.
When choosing our brand, we have to consider whether we want a bad boy image, a princess image, a hard-working, productive citizen image, or just a good image. Choosing a brand is not limited to a specific type, gender, individual, group, or ethnicity. This idea is ingrained within each person, and we all display it in some fashion. However, the concept of choosing our brand creeps into everyday life in the places most common to us like the neighborhood, the school, and different organizations and groups. We are most often accepting of how others choose their brand because it doesn’t necessarily hurt or impact anyone, or so we think (parents and grandparents may have a different opinion).
As an educator, I see all types of brands: the cool, the player, the floozy, the geek, the misfit, the stylish, the joker, the do-gooder the clown, the athlete, the druggie, the intellectual, and the list goes on and on. Choosing a brand is considered a self-identifying style. As I reminisce about the hundreds of students who have entered my classroom and office over the past 20 years, the brands have varied. The great thing about choosing a brand as a teenager is that the opportunity does arise to change to the brand of the maturing adult. Some brands have brought great fun and laughter and pleasant memories, and others have caused me to grieve because of the tragedy, sadness, and self-perception that is exhibited in the brand. While we may not think that choosing a brand has any influence, value, or significance, I have been struck with a thought that it does. The focus has been on the individual choosing his brand, but what about organizations that choose a brand? Does the brand impact people with inclusion or exclusion? What is the one organization that chooses a brand that could have a complicated influence on others? My immediate thought was the church.
The church. What happens when the church chooses its brand, and that brand does not include all people? This is the first indication that there is a problem. The question I am left to ponder is what is the purpose of choosing the brand. Is the purpose to invite people to hear the true word of God, or is the purpose to idolize financial gains and the church leaders? Doesn’t this brand lead to a dismal and disillusioned emotional, mental, and spiritual bankruptcy?
Once again, I return to my childhood when life and living were simple. Monday through Friday was meant for school, work, meetings, and everything else that needed to be completed. Saturday was the day of labor where cars were washed, weeds were pulled, the grass was mowed, laundry was washed, and the shopping was done. By the end of the day, the evening was spent in front of the television because the Sunday dinner had been planned (sometimes put in the slow cooker) and Sunday church clothes were selected and pressed. The night air gave way to uninterrupted rest and pleasant dreams. Sunday came and we arose to go hear the true and authentic word of God.
Perhaps the issue today is that there is a church on every corner in the south. Because cities are flooded with so many churches, I can’t help but think that it has become a competitive market and as seekers, we are to find that one church that fits our personalities; hence, the idea of choosing a brand. Some of our churches have remained true to the word of God while others have given way to a prosperity philosophy: a new branding. This is a philosophy that is found more in the evangelical church that equates Christian faith to material possessions (mostly finances). It is the belief that we fail to prosper financially because we fail to ask God and pray, and we fail to give generously. This entire branding makes me question the definition and limitation of wealth, and it is this same philosophy that creates a distrust and distancing in the church leadership. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s’ clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves (Matthew 7:15).
If a church chooses to preach the prosperity philosophy and present itself as a bourgie, middle upper-class church where most members have a superior air about them, then the assumption is that the leadership will appear the same way. Is this the brand that includes all people? We have to be careful in choosing our brand because it can result in hurt, rejection, and unrest. What will the church miss if they choose a brand that includes some and excludes many? As the still of the night settles, I am left with a profound thought that pertains to all of us and how we choose our brand. How often do we miss out on a blessing because it didn’t come wrapped in the package (branding) that we perceived that it should?
Copyright ©️ 2020 by CrayDawg, Inc.
Coffee Reflections 