I recently read Phil Cooke’s new book Branding Faith. It wasn’t what I expected. When I saw the title, I assumed “Branding” to be an adjective. So, I assumed the book to be about faith that “leaves its mark.” Instead, Cooke used the term as a verb. His point is that we need to “brand” our faith. We need to do something that causes it to be identifiable, or, to borrow from Merriam-Webster’s definition, “to impress indelibly.”
While many may find his book to be “too secular” because it talks about marketing techniques and tactics, I found it quite interesting and personally challenging. By that, I mean that it challenged me on a personal level. After all, are we not trying to get unbelievers to “buy in to” the gospel message? Unbelievers are spiritually “dead” in their sins. Most non-believers in the western world cultures are not “spiritually minded” with the exceptions being those who are in the occult or spiritism. (Unfortunately, there are also many who call themselves Christians who are also NOT spiritually minded! That’s a different subject left for another day.)
In his book, Cooke challenged the reader to tell their own, unique story. His premise is that in “Telling Your Story” you will find your “brand” – the image you want to portray, the reputation you want to build. He then proceeded with four questions to be answered to do that. I took it as a challenge to answer those questions for my own life. That is what follows.
At first glance, this may seem a little odd for a post on my "God's Simple Truths" blog. However, I believe that answering the questions posed by Cooke is one of the "truths" about ourselves and our reason for being that we all need to answer. So, as you read through my answers, begin to ask yourself how you would answer each of these questions. That's the "simple truth" you should take away from this posting.
What’s the Point?
As a secondary question, Cooke asked “Why are you doing [what ever it is you are doing]?” He then addressed both the areas of talents and abilities with which we have been equipped as well as family backgrounds and life experiences that have shaped how we view things.
Talents and Abilities
I have a passion to teach. It doesn’t matter if it is teaching mathematics at the high school or college level, teaching graduate level probability & statistics, or teaching computer science topics to my peers in the industry in which I have worked for the past 20+ years, I love to teach! It also doesn’t matter if I am in a lecture hall full of people or teaching (tutoring, mentoring) one-on-one. I still love to teach! But what I love to teach the MOST are the principles of the Kingdom. I greatly enjoy seeing someone “get it” with a concept of mathematics, engineering, or computer science. But the reward of knowing someone just grasped a key of the Kingdom is much greater. The impact of that can be far more reaching. How much better for someone to know how to restore a “crashed life” than just being able to restore a crashed computer system!
Life Experiences
I am one who fights for the underdog. I particularly fight for those I believe have been misunderstood or “done wrong.” (My apologies to the grammar teachers, but it conveys my message!) I always want to see “right” prevail. It’s no wonder that I love the old western movies. The “good guy” always did the “right” thing, whether or not it was popular. He was often misunderstood, his actions misinterpreted, and his motives misjudged. But he still did “right” – because of who he was and his personal integrity, ethics, and character. I still like those guys! That’s the way I always want to be. In the movies, they always won in the end. Unfortunately, in history, many men and women who filled those roles during that period in the history of America or in similar situations throughout the ages in any land, did not come out as well in the natural. Countless individuals, known and unknown, have given their lives to stand for right, to fight for truth. They are the real heroes.
What “wires” me this way? As Cooke points out, it is likely my own life experiences. I have been blamed too many times for something I did not do. I have been misunderstood even more. Words have been twisted, actions misunderstood, motives behind them misinterpreted and misjudged. I guess it is no wonder that I want to come to the defense of others to whom I see the same things happening. I learned long ago that you can never defend yourself in such situations – because the person(s) accusing you have already decided your guilt and that what you say is not to be trusted or even believed. It takes an intermediate (an intercessor, an advocate) to defend you. In my life, those have been rare. I know how difficult that makes walking through the situation and how much stress and pressure it causes. That, too, adds to why I do not want to see others go through those things.
Who are you?
Next, Cooke asks “Who exactly are you?” He states the purpose of the question as being “to discover what makes you who you are.” What is your family background? What is your educational background? Where did you grow up geographically? All of these things shape us.
As for me, I’m a southern gal. :-) That’s why I like things like grits and mustard greens and cornbread. I was also raised “poor.” We never went without food or clothes, but let’s just say we were on the lower end of the “lower middle class.” I realized the only way out of poverty was education. Fortunately, academia was the one area in which I excelled. I wasn’t athletic. I was not musically talented. (I have often pitied the poor woman from whom I took piano lessons. She must have dreaded me coming. I also feel sorry for my parents for making the financial sacrifice to pay for those because they wanted so much for me to be able to play the piano. Try as I might, I never was any good at it.) Nor was I “charismatic.” As I have often said of myself, when I was growing up I wasn’t just the wall flower at a party or social event, I was part of the wall! [Those who know me now find that hard to believe. It is evidence that God is a Healer.] Education became a priority for me. However, I had to break free from the poverty mindset in which I was raised to even be able to go to college, much less on to graduate school.
Like Cooke, my “third place” (that place where we hang out besides home and work/school) was the church. It is difficult for those who did not know me then to understand how I “grew up in the church” when I did not grow up in a godly home. The answer is simple. I lived across the street from it. I could (and did) go to church whether anyone else in my family did or not. That, too, has shaped who I am – both the fact that I “grew up in the church” and the fact that I often attended it alone.
Being so involved in the church in my childhood and teen years has it benefits (the things I learned at an early age about God and about living for Him) and its drawbacks (the things that I saw). I not only lived across the street from the church, I lived next door to the parsonage. In addition, since all of my primary relationships outside of my family were church relationships, I knew a lot of ministers. Unfortunately, I knew some of them “too” well and knew too much about others. I saw the double standards and hypocrisy. I knew “ministers” who where adulterers. I knew ministers who were homosexual. I also knew one who was a child molester. I knew how anyone who dared to try to expose them and their sin turned out to be the one who was “evil” in trying to attack and “falsely accuse the man of God.”
It is no wonder that I put such a high value on personal integrity. I am one who is much more concerned about character than I am about gifting. Your gift does not impress me unless you have the character to carry it well. I may respect your position, but your position does not impress me – your lifestyle does. One of the things that my experiences have developed is a pretty accurate discernment in such matters. If your walk is inconsistent with your talk, I will see through you. I hear more loudly what your life is speaking than what your words are saying. If those are inconsistent, you lose my respect. If they are too inconsistent, you also lose my trust.
What are your gifts and talents?
Then next question Cooke asks is “What were you born to do?” That’s an easy one. Teach. Today I would add to that Train and Equip. I don’t want to just impart knowledge. I want to know that the person has learned (or “caught”) what I have taught and can apply it. To me, that is the difference between a true teacher and a lecturer. Unfortunately, many “preachers” fall into the second category.
If you had asked my mother, she would have told you how I used to line my dolls up and hold school for them before I ever started to school. (I never did ask her what I used to teach them.) When I was in the first grade (and we did not have public kindergarten, so that was my first year of school), my teacher would have me help some of my classmates who were struggling with their lessons. Apparently, I could explain it to them in a way they would understand it – or at least give them the personal, one-on-one attention they needed. (I didn’t know the word “tutor” then.) When I was in fifth grade, the school started a program where the more advanced students from the higher grades would go down to the lower grades to tutor students who needed the extra attention. (Schools didn’t have aides then like they do now. We were a free resource. And, it was good for us as well.) No wonder I got degrees (plural) in Education!
I also love math. Why? Because it’s logical, of course! (Yes, I also loved Mr. Spock. Not the doctor, the half-Vulcan.) In mathematics, the rules are well defined. (I like well defined rules!) If applied properly, the rules of mathematics always yield the correct answer. The result obtained is either right (when rules are applied properly) or wrong (when they are not). Black or white. No gray. I like that, too!
And, I love to write. Whether it is the annual newsletter to friends that I have done now for over 20 years, a technical manual (like a 300+ page manual I wrote as part of my job), or something like this blog, I love to write. I love to express my feelings by writing them. I love to share my knowledge or things I have learned by writing them. And I often function as the “chief editor” of technical writings within what ever group I work. In part that is because I am good at “cleaning up” what others have written – whether grammatically or in wordsmithing it to make sure it will be understood or interpreted correctly. One area in which I know I would be good, but have not yet had the opportunity to try, is that of “ghost writing.” That is helping someone else who either is not a good writer or doesn’t have the time to do so get their message on paper. Or, maybe I should say “in print” since paper isn’t really a necessary medium these days! Another area as yet unrealized is in writing my own books and training manuals. That, too, will come.
What makes you different?
Cooke’s last question asks “what separates you from the pack?” What makes you unique?
Again the answer seems simple. I’m me!
I’m multifaceted. Not only have I seen myself that way for years, I’ve had it put in those terms in prophetic words given to me.
You’ve already learned (if you didn’t know before) that I am a teacher, I am a mathematician and statistician, and I am a professional in IT (Information Technology, what we used to call “Computing”). I can sit in a meeting with upper level executives as a technical expert. But I am much more “at home” in my jeans and a flannel shirt than in a business suit. I can relate to people on all levels of the social spectrum. Remember, I grew up “poor.” I can talk with the guy who is living on the street and hasn’t had a bath in a couple of weeks (or longer!) and turn around and talk with an executive or professional. This ability, too, has been addressed in prophetic words. There is Kingdom purpose in being able to be at ease in any level of social environment. Also, having grown up battling cockroaches and worse, I can survive in environments in which some of my friends today could not. However, 4- and 5-star hotels are MUCH nicer and much more comfortable! :-)
From another perspective, I can cook (well!), decorate a home, or landscape a yard – and that means do the work, not just design it! I can change a tire, change the oil in the car, and even change out a radiator. (For the record, I choose NOT to do those things these days!) I can sew or limb a tree. I can do bookkeeping or accounting (yes, I did that for a living at one point in time) or teach math and statistics. I can architect and run UNIX systems or lay out your factory floor. I can teach you how to balance your checkbook and how to create and live within a budget, or I can teach you about living within the realm of Kingdom principles. I will find your inefficiencies and areas in which you are ineffective. If you will allow me, I will offer you ways to address them. :-) I am a multitasker extraordinaire, but can focus intently when necessary. Overriding it all, I am task-oriented. Need to get the job done? Call Laurie!
So, who IS Laurie?
What Cooke addresses are our natural abilities and personality. He notes that callings are a different issue and that God will often call us to do things beyond our natural capabilities. So, what I have NOT addressed here is the call on my life or all the various facets of ministry involved with fulfilling that. The call on my life supersedes, but is not inconsistent with, who I am in the natural. This is much like the way the law of aerodynamics supersedes, but is not inconsistent with, the law of gravity. It if weren’t for gravity, the plane would not land. :-) If it were not for the natural, we would not be able to live and function in this natural world. But the spiritual giftings we allow to mature in us “by reason of use” and the call God placed on our life before the foundation of the earth are beyond our natural abilities to fulfill. For those, we must tap into God’s supernatural ability being manifested through us. That topic I will leave for another day.
For now, I will end this, signing off as Laurie, teacher and champion of the person(s) wronged.
Who are you?
