Taking Slogans Captive

Taking Slogans Captive by Brian Fitzgerald we are taking every thought captive to obey Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:5 There are prisoners of war in spiritual warfare. Make no mistake, we are engaged in this warfare everyday. Paul told the Corinthians, Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards; for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). We take thoughts prisoners of war to obey Christ. How do we do that? I suggest one small step: begin with slogans. Companies worldwide will spend about $580 billion this year in advertising. In order to get us to buy their product, they advertise it as more than function. A shoe is not just a shoe it s epic and legendary. A certain shoe means a certain status. Video games aren t just games. PlayStation 4 says Greatness Awaits. Really? Let s take that slogan captive to obey Christ by asking the question, What is greatness and can PS4 offer it? Jesus says that the greatest among us will be the servant of all. Does PS4 offer that? Of course not. But if I don t take that slogan captive, I could become captivated by the idea that feats of fake reality offer greatness. Taking slogans captive to obey Christ means using them as opportunities to consider truth in the light of Christ. If slogans are bombarding us everyday, we should be equipped to handle them. Let s take em captive. Just Do It (Nike) If you love Me, you will keep my commandments If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love You are My friends if you do what I command you. - Jesus (John 14-15) In 1976, Gary Gilmore robbed and murdered two men. A Utah jury found him guilty and recommended the death penalty. He was executed on January 17, 1977 by firing squad. His last words were Let s do it. Eleven years later, in an advertising agency meeting, these final words inspired Dan Wieden to coin the slogan Just Do It for Nike s marketing campaign. Calling it successful is an understatement. Just Do It is arguably the 20 th century s most famous tagline.!1

When we follow Jesus, there comes a time when we need to just do it and quit making excuses, especially in a culture where not feeling like doing something justifies not doing it. Jesus didn t operate that way. Nothing in him felt like standing in our place and facing God s judgment, but he submitted his will to God s anyway because he loved and trusted the Father. What about us? Does our love for Jesus lead us to obey him and submit to his will? If you love Me, Jesus says, you will keep my commandments. Was he serious, and does he really expect us to obey him? The Pharisee wants to know what these commandments are. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it, and he summed it up in two commandments: (1) Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and (2) love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). Who s my neighbor? the Pharisee then asks, seeking to justify himself. Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, which doesn t answer the Pharisee s question. Jesus didn t need to explain that, by definition, a neighbor is someone in immediate proximity to us. He focuses on being a good neighbor, and then he asks his questioner, Which of these three (the priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan) do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers hands? The man replied, The one who showed mercy toward him. Jesus said, Go and do the same. In other words, Just do it. If obedience is the measure of our love, how much do we love Jesus? He calls us to love with actions, not just words. Whatever else loving God and neighbor involves, it certainly involves doing. If we would just do it, the world would be far better place. Protect This House (Under Armour) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Under Armour intended to inspire team unity with its slogan Protect This House, and it s one of my favorite slogans because it directs my attention to 1 Corinthians 6 our bodies are houses. If we are sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit, then our commitment to Christ demands pure and healthy choices and habits. Sexual purity is not a vague biblical suggestion. Shun fornication! Paul says. Fornication is an ugly word today, so most people prefer the sugarcoated phrase premarital sex in order to dignify the sin. But let s not fool ourselves. So-called premarital sex is not appropriate behavior for Jesus followers, and it is sinful. Jesus is especially clear and non-compromising about it because he takes the issue straight to the heart when he says that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already!2

committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27). It s not good enough to just not fornicate. Jesus calls us to purity of heart, which means that his followers do not view others as objects of a sick appetite, but rather treasure them as people before God. As Job said, I ve made a solemn pact with myself to never undress a girl with my eyes (Job 31:1 MSG). Job protected his house. And Paul encouraged the same: Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Because God has sent his Spirit to live within us, how should we treat our bodies? We treat them as homes of God s Spirit. We keep them sexually pure, which includes our eyes and minds. We Protect This House. We also keep our bodies healthy. We either dictate its habits and cravings or be dictated by its. That s why fasting is a good regular practice. When I fast, I m amazed how often I find myself at the pantry. I don t think about it. I just find myself there. Without practicing fasting as a discipline, my habit is to give into my body s every craving. But fasting teaches my body that it ll survive without that snack, and it helps me gain control over my body rather than being controlled by it. It s a safeguard against gluttony, one of Sodom s primary sins 1 and Dante s third circle of hell. Many who can sit comfortably through a sermon on fornication might not enjoy the same level of comfort while sitting through one on gluttony. Regular exercise is also part of protecting our house. Paul says, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27). Christian living is vigorous living. We are not called to be lazy gluttons. Our lifestyle should reflect Paul s encouragement to present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices, well-pleasing to God, which is our spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1). As sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit, and as living and holy sacrifices, let s Protect This House. Think Different (Apple) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God that which is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:2 1 Ezekiel 16:49!3

Being Jesus disciple means seeing things differently. We think differently. We have different assumptions about life, people, and the world. We approach things differently, which has serious implications for our marriages, parenting, friendships, and work-life. We don t operate like other people operate because Jesus has changed our minds. He is changing our minds, which means that he is changing our lifestyle. A mind centered on Christ leads to a life centered on him. That mindset and lifestyle will keep us in an unpopular cultural minority. It s the consequence of thinking different. The Few. The Proud. (The Marines) Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. - Matthew 7:13-14 For I am not ashamed of the gospel - Romans 1:16 We re not always proud to be among the few. In a culture where everyone wants to have unique style and original ideas, most fear being too different. Being too different means shunning and persecution. Perhaps that s why people struggle so much with Christianity. Following Jesus means being different to the point of conflict with what everyone else thinks. And people cherish what other people think. Good thing Jesus followers think different. Paul was unashamed of the gospel because he knew the truth. He saw things clearly. He knew what the world was like. He knew what people were like. And he knew Jesus was alive and reigning. What s there to be ashamed of? There s a narrow gate leading to life, and few find it. Those who do are unashamed. Obey Your Thirst (Sprite) If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. - Jesus (John 4:10, 14) This theme of Taking Slogans Captive was inspired by a Sprite commercial. I couldn t care less about Sprite, but then their slogan appeared: Obey Your Thirst. My!4

mind went to John 4 and Jesus statement about living water. I didn t buy a Sprite, but I have thought about obeying my thirst. We need water. Depending on age, we are 50-65% water. Our brains, lungs, hearts, kidneys, and livers are especially wet. To be without water is deadly. The Society for Neuroscience says, We can survive for only a matter of days without water. Thirst serves as an automatic reminder of that fact and, thus, plays a crucial role in keeping us alive. None of us know true thirst. Water is the most essential necessity, and we never have to think about it because we have 24/7 access to clean water. But in much of the world, clean water is not a given, especially in the first-century Middle East. In John 4, Jesus talks water with a woman at a well. If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water. The woman said, Sir, you don t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this living water? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us? Jesus said, Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life. The woman said, Sir, give me this water so I won t ever get thirsty, won t ever have to come back to this well again! (John 4:10-15, MSG) Jesus speaks metaphorically about our deepest need. Physiologically, we can lose our sense of thirst our automatic reminder that we might die without water. We can lose a sense for our most essential need. Our spiritual thirst is the same. Tim Keller thinks that we don t always recognize our soul thirst for what it is. He says, As long as you think there s a pretty good chance that you will achieve some of your dreams, as long as you think you have a shot at success, you experience your inner emptiness as drive and your anxiety as hope. And so you can remain almost completely oblivious to how deep your thirst actually is. He concludes, Everybody has got to live for something, but Jesus is arguing that, if he is not that thing, it will fail you. Obey your thirst. Conclusion Not every slogan gets us thinking about positive Christian living. For example, Greatness Awaits is a slogan which gets us thinking about true greatness, but many slogans, like KFC s Finger lickin good, are useless. But, whenever we can, we think!5

critically about the slogans that come our way and take them captive to Christ. When taken captive to obey Christ, Just Do It or the Nike swoosh gets us thinking about the things we should be doing; Under Armour reminds us to take care of our bodies and why; Apple products remind us that Jesus followers think different; the Marines encourage us to be proud about being in the minority; and Sprite gets us thinking about our deepest thirst and the one who alone can quench it. That s what a captive slogan does. Let s train our minds to take such captives. Homework Assignment Practice taking the following slogans captive to Christ by reading Scripture and thinking critically about the truth (what is the reality?) versus the advertisement (what are they appealing to in order to get me to buy?). 1. PS4 - Greatness Awaits (Luke 22:24-27) 2. L oreal Paris - Because You re Worth It (Matthew 6:25-24 or Galatians 4:1-7) 3. State Farm - Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There (Luke 10:25-37) 4. MasterCard - There are some things money can t buy. For everything else, there s MasterCard. (Matthew 6:19-21) 5. Disney World - Where Dreams Come True (Proverbs 16:9, Matthew 16:24-26) 6. Levi s - Quality Never Goes Out of Style (Psalm 37, Psalm 92:12-14)!6