August 09, 2006

Trust Me

Geico’s lovable talking Gecko tells us, “A gecko can be trusted”. Not only does he sell auto insurance, but he’s an advertising icon on caps, mugs and baby blankets. With that British accent and those big black eyes his mum and dad must be very proud of him. According to his own words, this green bloke knows how to keep advertising from being ‘boring’ so people think they’re actually watching entertaining television. Do you suppose people who say the church and hymns are boring could be entertained by a talking gecko? Wait mate…that gecko already has a job and an ‘unclean’ icon (Lev 11:30) might not be well received. Let’s see, who would we trust?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gail;
----I guess we have to remember that the Lord sent a sheet down in a vision to Peter containing everything unclean. Then He said, "Eat!" There may have even been a few of our little gecko friends in there, maybe even a couple guitars and some drums.
----Paul tells us that all things are good if they are received in thanksgiving. And he tells us not to let others bother us about the observances we make, nor to bother others about those they make. This is love, because love looks to the interests of the other, and seeks to please by those interests (that's Paul's stuff, folks).
----So if some church wants to have a little gecko for an entertaining preacher and an iguana with a guitar glued to his belly for a music leader, then that is fine, if that is what they want. But there is the rub - if that is what they want.
----The gecko and the iguana must remeber that they are servants, not masters. If the people don't want their act, they need to either change acts or change churches. But to stay and require the church to change acts is to require the church to serve them in their own ambitions, and love them and join in with their own performances.
----Then the picture gets really muddy when the gecko's and the iguana's act has followed the failed act of the Everglades rat and Tiny Tim, the Mozart. That kind of act can be zany enough to attract a following for the gecko and iguana to play to, but not grounded in love enough to win over those who had to be stepped on in order to get its performance time. That act left in the audience those who desire to entertain the world for Jesus, plus those slightly flatter more tread-marked ones who want to reverently worship the Lord and let the world join after it gets washed in the blood.
----So the real problem is not that the gecko and iguana are performing. Their performances are great for those who want gecko/iguana. The real problem is that the audience still has in it those who must be stepped on in order for the gecko/iguana show to go on.
----And that is what is wrong with the gecko. He's not playing by the Spirit's version of the rules of love and service to one another, he's playing by his own modifeid version.