Memorable Commercials and the Power of Story

As believers in Christ, we are called to be motivated by the love of God, to communicate the truth - verbally and by the way we live our lives.   Here are the words of 2nd Corinthians 5:

14For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;15and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.16Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation...
These words can help to shape how we approach other people - we are told that we are no longer to live for ourselves, but for Him, and we are to be motivated by the love of Christ, the love that drew us to Christ, the love that drove our Lord to die on a cross for us.   Because we have been changed from the inside, we now have a new view of other people, and we recognize that God has given us a mission, a ministry, to announce to the world that God has come to reconcile humanity to Himself.   We are His ambassadors, to represent Him in our speech and our actions.

God is writing His story in and through us, and He has given us the capability to communicate His truth in a compelling way.   Here's what 2nd Corinthians 3 says:

2You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men;3clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.4And we have such trust through Christ toward God.5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God...

Super Bowl 2014 is now history, and while the big story of the game was the dominance of the Seattle Seahawks, there were certainly scores of mini-stories that were being posted in between the minutes of action on the field.

Yes, the Super Bowl commercials were on display last night, and to be honest, once you got into the second half, there was no longer any contest in the game, but I found myself holding on to the commercial breaks - my tendency in similar situations is to punch the remote, but not this time.   I wanted to see what messages the commercials were conveying and how they were being communicated.

I checked out the overview of the spots on the USA Today Ad Meter, which rated every single one of the ads during the Big Game.   And, there was a nice analysis of some of the trends in what was produced.  It said:

Super Bowl 2014, in fact, may have marked a serious turning point for those Super Bowl advertisers.

Out: ads created just for cheap laughs or lookie-loos.

In: ads with fewer words, do-good messages and cinematic credibility.

Sure, some of the commercials were overdone, but many told honest-to-goodness stories — with a beginning, middle and end. There seemed to be a rediscovery among advertisers that Super Bowl viewers love nothing more than a story told well.

It also was a night when it seemed as if Hollywood took over Madison Avenue, with ads rich in cinematography rather than words.

Some of the themes:  the website reported that there was American symbolism, there was an abundance of celebrity, and a night where family was championed.   Some ads were even longer than the standard 60- or 30-seconds.  And, as USA Today points out:

Even some of the shorter ads were meatier — with more substance and less fluff. Following a banner year in U.S. cinema, when filmmakers created more five-star movies than Oscar nominators could reward, it's almost as if a smidgen of this excellence rubbed off on Madison Avenue.

It's also the Super Bowl where, in a bid for their ads to go viral, a handful of advertisers placed real consumers in dream-come-true situations.

And, another observation:  "Even with the economy apparently improving, it appears that our cultural hearts still are beating for the past, and not so much for the present or future. Nostalgia for what was — or what our faulty memories tell us was — was woven into more than a dozen Super Bowl spots."

And, as USA Today contends this also was the Super Bowl where simple was good — sometimes even great.

From a spiritual perspective, the conglomeration of this year's Super Bowl ads can provide some powerful reminders about the way we communicated.   For one thing, as Jesus illustrated for us, a good story can carry the day.  He made His points with good stories that were designed to penetrate the heart.   And, a key component of our personal testimony is to share what God has done for us through our relationship with Jesus Christ - we can share about how He has changed our lives and how He has shown Himself faithful.   Telling our story and pointing out the evidence of God to us personally can be powerful and compelling.

There were ads where words were at a premium.  And, the Bible cautions us that where words are many, sin is not absent.  Our tongues can cause untold damage if we don't place them in check.  We are told to avoid "idle" chatter.   So, some of these ads can teach us to be wise with our words and make sure that we strive to communicate with substance.   Certainly, there are times to be light and even silly - laughter can make for a merry heart - but there are times when we need to make our words count.  Sometimes, what we say, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, can have eternal implications.

I do think it's telling that nostalgia was a big factor.  So often, we do long for the way things used to be.  I believe it's perfectly fine to relish in the past, but we, as Christians, can be distinctly hopeful for the future.   If we think about God's faithfulness in the past, that can provide a springboard to face the future. If we are convinced in our hearts that He is with us, that can produce a sense of hope and expectation for a great and mighty God to show Himself in incredible ways.   And, our hope in Christ can attract people to come to Him and trust Him with their lives.

The stories have been told, and some will be viewed over and over and over again - and we recognize we have been entrusted with the greatest story ever told.   God desires to tell His story through our lives.