what jesus, his disciples, and rob bell have taught me about my former major-- public relations.

I started reading Movement 7 of Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis tonight.It's the last movement of his book, and so far it's talked about how God's going to restore our world. How He made it good (not perfect, mind you) and how one day He will bring heaven down to earth and THEN it will be perfect.
He talks about how Caesar Augustus, in Jesus's day, claimed to be a god. Advent was the period of 12 days leading up to Caesar's birth!! AHAHA. The guy even had people bring him offerings of frankincense and myrrh to get rid of their guilt.
And, he coined the slogan "Caesar is Lord."

Tonight I realized that Jesus and his disciples are the best Public Relation specialists in history, even before the practice of real PR began.

Think about it-- taking the most popular phrases and rituals of the day and tweaking them to fit your own campaign? GENIUS. (I know Jesus as the Messiah wasn't really a campaign, but see this thing through.)
Bell talks about how it was commonplace to claim you've been raised from the dead back then; even Caesar claimed he had been resurrected.
So the challenge then, for the disciples and for the risen Lord, was in what they did AFTER the resurrection. The claim that Jesus was the Messiah wasn't enough. They needed more than that. Christians, not the government, served the people.
And it was through THIS that they proved the love of Christ and the sacrifice He made, and the sacrifice he calls us all to make.
Daily.
They loved people. Took them in, befriended them, laughed with them and created inside jokes.
They got to know their families and their passions.
They lived.

So here's the deal. 
I sometimes forget why I serve. 
Sometimes I lose track, get burnt out, and trick myself into thinking that the fuzzy warm feeling I get inside when I spend time with someone or help someone out with some thing in some way is enough. That it's what it's all about.
But it isn't.
We serve and love and glorify His name because that's the example Jesus set.
Because He loved us so much that it's all He could do.
Paul referred to Jesus as a "firstfruit" in 1 Corinthians 15.20. Which meant that after Jesus, there would be more of us to model-- and even extend-- Jesus's love after Jesus returned to heaven.


It makes me think a lot about AU and all the people that go here. Everyone wants to make a difference. In politics, in international service, in whatever. And the alternative break program? i'm starting to spend a lot of time around Alt Break leaders in preparation for South Africa and am flabbergasted by how idealistic and passionate these people are. They feel so deeply the pain of others. Why don't all Christians feel this way? Why don't I? What went wrong?

And so these first Christians passed on the faith to the next generation who passed it on to the next generation who passed it on to the next generation until it got to...us. Here. Today. Those who follow Jesus and belong to his church. And now it's our turn. It is our turn to step up and take responsibility for who the church is going to be for a new generation. It is our turn to redefine and shape and dream it up all again.. It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world. (Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis p164)

I just switched out of my major, Public Communication (aka Public Relations) this week.
'Cause MAN I H8-ed IT. 
But the good thing is, PR is kinda intuitive. Look at what the disciples did-- taking ownership of the "Caesar is Lord" campaign that Caesar Augustus and his minions had goin' on, and putting their own spin on it. Reclaiming pop culture. Not ignoring it and denying its existence, but instead capitalizing on its popularity and relatability and reaching people THROUGH it.
I might hate PR, but that's a durn good approach that even I can appreciate.


Two things. One, I sure am gonna look at my Advent calendar different this Christmas. IDK about you, but I never knew until now that Advent was originally the time that marked up to Caesar Augustus's birthday. I guess I didn't pay attention in Sunday School. Typical.

And two, it's time to reclaim. Together. "It is our turn to rediscover the beautiful, dangerous, compelling idea that a group of people, surrendered to God and to each other, really can change the world."

Cheers.