Promotion of Good News

Scriptures: “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (II Corinthians 3:3)

Back in the 70’s, when I was still in college studying Marketing Management, my professor showed us an award winning commercial. At the beginning of the commercial, we saw a car running on the road, moving freely from lane to lane.

Then, the camera pulled back a little bit and we saw that the car was actually a very small car, like a remote-control toy car, moving in between wheels of bigger cars and trucks who were stuck in a stop-and-go traffic. The small car then came behind a big rig with a 40-feet container and decided to go through the big truck from underneath. So, it sped up through the 18 wheeler only to find the traffic light turning red. So, it slammed on the brake and stopped right before the cross walk. Because of its size and sudden appearance, the truck driver stopped his truck with an amazement on his face. Then, the screen went blank and “TOYOTA” showed up on the screen and concluded the commercial.

Other than the background music, the whole commercial was like a silent movie. No one was saying or reading anything at all. And, there was no word or phrase anywhere to be seen in the commercial, except the last scene when they showed “TOYOTA” on the screen. The message of the commercial was loud and clear. In a time when “Bigger Is Better”, this Japanese automobile manufacturer was trying to promote the small car in the US market. So, even though no one said anything, the feature of their product, agility, was very well presented and clearly communicated. Because of the clarity of its message and the impressive approach of delivering the message, it won the award.

But, throughout the entire commercial, no where would we be able to find anything that identifies the advertising company. To some extent, I think this is really just like witnessing. When we witness for our Lord Jesus, we are supposed to present Jesus and the salvation He has brought us. That’s the good news this world badly needs. And, that should be all that we should be sharing.

Instead, I often heard people witnessing with a lot of “I” in their sharing. I find it fascinating that those who like to use a lot of “I” in their conversation and sharing are usually people who are very self-centered too. Jesus once said, “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) As a result, when they give a testimony, all that people hear are what they did or didn’t do, not what the Lord has done for them.

We, as Christians, have been charged with an honorable and awesome responsibility to share the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. I think we need to learn to be Christ-centered, not I-centered so that, just as Paul said, people will read the messages God wants to deliver in His letters, us. I pray that, when delivering the messages of God, we are as plain and un-noticeable as possible, so that people will be able to read and be touched by the power and messages from God without any distractions. After all, who am I to take the spotlight that Jesus deserves?

Prayer Requests:
Those who work hard to spread the Gospel of our Lord Jesus

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Lord and Savior. Thank You for giving us opportunity after opportunity to share with other people the good news of Your love and salvation. Be exalted in our lives and help us to faithfully proclaim Your name in every possible way to everyone we meet. In Your glorious name we pray, Amen!