I have a rule. If you have to wear a ridiculous, garish costume and yell at me, I have zero interest in your product.
We’ve all known people who overdress while underperforming. Some are ‘faking it until they make it’. Some are talented, but trying to ‘make it’ in an area not suited for them. And some have watched others get by that way, and decided to copy looking like something special instead of becoming something special.
When breakfast came, the wheat bread came with it. Unassuming. Just bread. It accompanied corned beef hash and eggs which was colorful, tastefully presented, and mouthwateringly fragrant. Just bread, one of the two sides.
Peach jelly, naturally. I’ve always loved peaches in most any form. I noticed the texture of the bread as I spread the jelly, so I took a big bite. Then I took another. Couldn’t help myself, and was hoping I didn’t get violently ill since I hadn’t yet asked the blessing. I sat there staring at the remainder of that half-slice. It was good.
“Everything taste all right?”
“Oh, yeah! This bread – can you tell me where you get it?” She could not; she didn’t know.
“It comes on the resupply truck with everything else.”
“I’d like to find out if possible because it’s—” She interrupted me, saying she, too, loved the taste and texture of that wheat bread. “But I’ve looked. All our other breads are labeled. Not this. It comes in a clear, plain wrapper so there’s no way of knowing who made it or where we got it. But I know it’s great bread, and I love it!”
It took me a few seconds, thoughtfully chewing and sipping the rich, hot coffee, for the application to begin scrolling…
- Jesus: “I AM the Bread of life.” He, too, came in a plain wrapper. So plain, in fact, that Isaiah prophetically said there’d be – was – nothing outstanding or noticeable about His wrapper. But the living Bread inside? No one ever encountering Him went away the same.
You’ve been dazzled by some fantastic packaging. Bamboozled by bluster. Snookered by smooooooth into spending good money, giving support, or even surrendering your love for an inferior product or service.
Here’s the sad part. If a sorry product, you won’t ever again buy it, nor trust the one pawning it off on you. That’s not all. That person’s entire company will now be suspect in your eyes. The same principle holds true for your supporting a cause, or giving your heart to another. If the glitzy wrapper promised more than what was inside had to offer, you’ll not be as willing to support any other cause. And in the matter of giving your heart? Those wounds heal slowly. You may never totally trust your love to another again.
All because of great packaging that never delivered.
Far better it is to live in a “plain” wrapper. Be content to be transparent, letting all around you see Christ through you.
Make sure what’s inside your wrapper makes anything on it – or not – unimportant because what’s inside is so wonderful. Let your daily living do all the advertising. It won’t be hard for those around you to know Who’s responsible for the texture and taste, if you will, of the real person inside your wrapper.
That bread is nothing short of amazing. As a side, it really sets off any dish with which it’s partnered.
Be like that bread.
© D. Dean Boone, September 2018