Wednesday, October 26, 2005 · no responses · comments closed

In his weekly column on Christian music, Christianity Today writer Russ Breimeier writes about the power of those fish symbols many Christians like to put on their cars. He says that if we want the credit for good behavior when we drive, “then we need to accept the downside of the fish. It brands us as a Christian, and that means when we pull a fast one in traffic, another driver may think, There goes another rude and arrogant Christian. There’s great responsibility in wearing the fish, and from my driving experiences, not enough Christians take it seriously.”

His point that such symbols “brand” us made me think of an article on branding that I also read this morning. Sitepoint’s editor Brendon Sinclair writes, “In business, everything affects your brand. The wording you use on your Website, the way you answer the telephone, how you dress, your business name, what sort of envelopes you use, the intonation of your voice, how quickly you return your calls, what sort of on-hold message you have, how you demonstrate your expertise… the list goes on.”

Consider how easily we can adapt this list to our life in Christ: the intonation of my voice, how I dress, the way I answer the phone, how I do my job…You get the point. Both Breimeier and Sinclair make the point that people are judging us and our company — -for the Christian, God and the church, if you will — -by our behavior. Sinclair says it best: “People ‘buy’ (products, services, employees, etc.) based on the perception of risk they associate with that purchase.” Am I risking the reputation of Jesus Christ by my behavior?