Look At Your Way, Now Look Back At Me

Old Spice was having a tough time. It was getting crushed by its newest competitor Axe with its hip image that appealed to youth. Old Spice was …old. How could they regain their strength in the market?

They were able to do it with a new quirky ad campaign that changed their image and strongly appealed not to men, the primary users of their product, but to women the primary purchasers of their products. 60 percent of their body wash was bought by women.

I wonder if we are not having the same problem in our churches today. You hear all the time about how churches are shrinking. We see the statics about how the next generation is becoming less religious. The first response is to try to change in order to attract that demo. Be hip, lose the old ways, let popular culture determine your message and actions.

Yet before we do that let us consider, who are we trying to please and who will give the increase?

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

1^st Corinthians 3:6-7

A church that tries to run to please a world that doesn’t know where it is only going to end up lost. A church that moves to be what God wants it to be will be a lighthouse that will help the wanders see the safe path home.

God will judge and untimely make our efforts fruitful. If we are pleasing to him, we will always be successful.

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