Does branding cultivate worship?

Just hear the word “worship” and your mind probably immediately conjures up images of a religious service or singing at church.

Worship is much more than that.

Let me give you a simple definition: Worship means “to ascribe worth or value to.”

In that case, we worship often every day by attaching worth or value to things and/or people, but routinely in ways we shouldn’t. Because of that, John would pen stern instructions for us as follows:

“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you,” 1 John 2:15.

I think many people tend to think this might sound “nice” but not true — surely you can enjoy the world, and the things the world offers, and still love God … right?

Actually, the way our minds and hearts work is that we begin to attach worth or value to worldly living and things this world offers — and that can quickly become worship.

No, that’s not an overstatement!

Let me illustrate my point with a tidbit from the book, “The Good and Beautiful Life: Putting on the Character of Christ” by James Bryan Smith:

“Martin Lindstrom observes: When people viewed images associated with the strong brands — the iPods, the Harley-Davidson, the Ferrari, and others — their brains registered the exact same patterns of activity as they did when they viewed the religious images. Bottom line, there was no discernible difference between the way the subjects’ brains reacted to powerful brands and the way they reacted acted to religious icons and figures.”

Branding and advertising isn’t designed to communicate a neutral message about a product from which you make a rational, reasoned decision; branding is crafted to spur you to worship, to “ascribe worth or value” to a product to such a degree you invest in having it (whether you need it or not!).

We see Satan use the same approach when he was alone with Jesus in the wilderness for the purpose of tempting Him to sin. At one point, the scheming devil makes a direct effort at getting Jesus to ascribe worth or value to him!

“Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ‘I will give it all to you,’ he said, ‘if you will kneel down and worship me,'” Matthew 4:8-9.

Unfortunately for Satan, Jesus’ brain didn’t react the same way to the offer of “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” as it did to ascribing worth or value to His Father:

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him,'” Matthew 4:10.

That’s why John instructed us, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.”

The Apostle Paul helps us by writing about how he had to deal with this issue of not loving the world, nor the things it offered him, but instead to ascribe worth or value to Jesus Christ:

“Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin — a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him …,” Philippians 3:2-9a.

Paul learned to have no love for this world, or anything it could offer him, by ascribing the greatest and highest worth and value to knowing Jesus Christ.

Digital marketing experts claim most Americans are exposed, in some way, to between 4,000 and 10,000 advertisements each day. The world is flooded with sources trying to lure you to ascribe worth or value to what they offer. And many live the empty life of never being content because they are always wanting more and more of what the world offers.

Their worship is misplaced.

Is yours?

Scotty