What Will They Think of Next?

I was walking through a hallway at school the other day and my olfactory (if you don't know what it means, look it up. You learn something new every day.) glands detected a strange smell. It kind of smelled like fresh paint. I kept walking down the hallway and eventually, I passed a room that had just been painted. That's probably why I smelled fresh paint. Probably.

Anyway, the fact that the room had just been painted wasn't all that surprising. More than likely, the room needed a fresh coat of paint and the maintenance people were just doing their jobs. What floored me was the sign on the door to the room. It read "Wet Paint." Pretty standard, right? That's not what got me, though. It was the caption. I forget what it said exactly, but it was something like, "Paint proudly applied with Wooster paint applicators."

Most of the "wet paint" signs I've seen are pretty simple. They're usually just pieces of scrap paper with "WET PAINT" scribbled on them in big block letters. Not too long ago, I ran across a sign that said "WET PAIN." Maybe that was a subtle hint that if you touched the wet paint, you would experience some pain at the hands of the painter. Or maybe someone just forgot the "T."

The sign I saw at school was relatively fancy though. It had been printed on crisp, white computer paper, and the lettering was centered in the page. And there was the shameless advertisement for "Wooster paint applicators" on the bottom of the page, of course. I remember thinking two things when I saw that sign:

1. Since when did people start advertising on "wet paint" signs?
2. What's a "paint applicator"? What ever happened to brushes and rollers?

Looking back, I suppose I probably shouldn't have been all that surprised. It's gotten to the point where companies will advertise in just about any way they can. Every day, I see cars with slick, flashy paint schemes that advertise a certain store or business. Everyone gets junk E-mail and we've all seen popups advertising online dating sites, deodorant, magic diet pills, and deodorant that will help get you dates on online dating sites.

And who could forget infomercials? But wait---there's more! For only $19.95 you can get two tubes of Mighty Putty, plus another two tubes free. And if you call right now, you get a tub of Orange Glo---for free! And if you use your credit card, you get a complimentary box of OxiClean! Such a deal!

Not too long ago, I saw a story in the news about people getting advertisements permanently tattooed onto their bodies. How crazy is that? What if the company you're advertising goes out of business? I guess you've got a pretty useless tattoo.

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Suffice it to say that advertising executives are always thinking of new ways to publicize products, and it seems like they know no shame. They get the word out however they can, whether it's by plugging their company on the bottom of "wet paint" signs or by tattooing ads onto peoples' backs. So what if it looks silly? If weird ways of advertising increase sales, then the marketing people don't seem to mind.

The world is very good at shamelessly plugging the things of this world, and I think that we as Christians often do a dismal job of competing. I'm not saying that we should try to pawn off the Gospel like a cheap set of Ginsu knives, because we shouldn't. But we also shouldn't keep it to ourselves like some kind of dirty secret. In Matthew 28, Jesus told His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations." Obviously, Jesus wanted His followers to tell the whole world the Good News . . . so why aren't we getting the word out?

Earlier in the book of Matthew, Jesus said this:

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

As Christians, we are the light of the world. Our purpose isn't to blend into the background; just like a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand, our purpose is to shine brightly in a world of darkness. All too often, though, we hide our light because it'll make us unpopular. If I act like a Christian around my friends, they won't like me anymore . . . so maybe I'll just shine my light at church on Sunday. That's where it really counts, right?

The truth of the matter is that we're supposed to shine our light at all times, regardless of whether or not it's the popular thing to do. When Jesus was on earth, He made lots of enemies because people didn't like His message. As true followers of Jesus, we can expect the same persecution He did (John 15:20, Mark 13:13), but we can take comfort in knowing that God will always be with us (Matthew 28:20) and that we will be blessed in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12).

There's no shortage of publicity for the things of this world---marketing departments, advertising campaigns, and catchy slogans make sure of that. It's up to us to ensure that the Gospel doesn't get lost in the background. We are the light of the world and if we aren't shining, the unsaved will be lost in the darkness.

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words."

- St. Francis of Assisi