Do you remember those old Coke commercials? One of them shows a group of young people from all over the world gathered on a hilltop in Italy. They are singing the song which ends with the slogan: “Coke, it’s the real thing”. The brand manager at the time, Ira C Herbert, heralded the campaign as a new direction that shows that young people seek the real, the original and the natural as an escape from phoniness”. Coke was considered the original cola.
I believe that people are looking for the real, the original, and the genuine when it comes to Christianity. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian believers and urged them: “That you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:10). God wants us to display to everyone around us a life that shines with a sincere faith. The word sincere comes from the Latin “sin cera” which means sun-tested. In ancient times when one would purchase a piece of pottery in the marketplace a customer would often hold the piece up to the sun. As they would turn it, the light would reveal any cracks that had been covered with wax.
There is so much wax and hypocrisy when it comes to showing the world an accurate picture of a true follower of Jesus. Don’t you think it is time to get rid of the phoniness within the body of Christ? None of us are a perfect representation of Christ. None of us will always live a consistent Christlike life. However, we who have professed salvation and are relying on the finished work of Christ to pay for our sins need to show this cruel world a genuine, sincere faith. I believe that if we would more accurately display the fruit of the Spirit in our lives and show this world how Jesus taught us to live, more people would accept Him as Savior.
The world is craving a glimpse of the true, the accurate, and the genuine. May we as Christ followers show that our Jesus is the real thing.