Some Like It Hot

There were several statements that people made in our discussion of this topic the other day in class that stood out to me and one in particular.  I can’t remember who said it, but the comment was pertaining to the Abercrombie and Fitch ads that were being shared and discussed. This person made the statement that they never would shop there and they can’t really see how anyone would ever want to shop there because of all the sex appeals that they were making to consumers. While I have the same opinion on not wanting to shop there, I couldn’t disagree more with the generalization that they couldn’t believe that anyone would shop there.

The obvious reason for my disagreement is this: sex sells. That is blatantly obvious. We all know that. The majorities of companies use this advertising style to try and real in consumers and convince them to purchase their product. There are so many different messages that can be sent through this type of advertising: if you buy this product you’ll attract the opposite sex; if you use this product you will make everybody jealous; etc. Take this Hardee’s commercial for example:

The last place I would ever expect to make a sex appeal to consumers would be a fast food restaurant. The fact that Hardee’s of all places is making an advertisement this way makes me laugh. It is so contradictory it makes this commercial hysterical. The point, however, is that whether we as Christians want to admit it and acknowledge it or not, everybody uses the sex appeal aspect of advertising to try and get consumers to buy their product.  

It would be nice if we could just curl up into a ball and hide ourselves from this scary, nasty, sinful world but what would that solve? How are we supposed to evangelize and make God’s Kingdom here on Earth? In Luke chapter 17, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom of God is coming. In verse 20, Jesus replies back to them saying, ”The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” Jesus was referring to himself being in their midst but these verses are very much applicable to our roles as Christians in a sinful society. Jesus made it our duty when he gave the Great Commission to go out and be disciples and spread God’s Word in order to bring other people to know Him and extend God’s Kingdom here to Earth. The Kingdom is among us and it is our job not to ignore everything that goes on around us but instead to tackle it head on and wrestle with the temptations that society brings us. Not only will this help ourselves with our disciplines in our faith and challenge us to grow, but it will more importantly aid in the expansion of God’s Kingdom among us.