Contentment- Our Weapon Of Choice

I was recently reading a blog that was written by an accomplished advertising guru aimed at helping the next generation of copywriters.

I have always known that advertising in general is not for the benefit of the one they are trying to persuade, but for both the copywriter’s ego/financial gain, and the company’s bottom line.

With that in mind, one must be discerning in that what is read, said, or imagined in that it may represent some of the most destructive principles known to man. (I am choosing to not reveal the blogger.)

The blogger stated this: “…in theory and sometimes practice, we are efforting to ‘make people want what they don’t need.’” Can you imagine being one who lives their life dreaming about how they can convince people to covet things for which they have no real need?  Does this make life better for anyone other than those who write the copy, get paid for their writing, and those who benefit from the sale? This seems like, at least a purposeless existence, and at most, evil.

The blogger continues to say this: “Admit it, copywriters. When you’re drafting a manifesto for a product or service or company (it doesn’t much matter what the thing is) don’t you feel the power at your fingertips? There, at your desk, you are creating a myth. Our words are like sparks and we want them to ignite. We are toying with Pandora’s Box and it is nothing short of thrilling.”

This comes from a man who is an “expert” in the field, and who hopes to help young copywriters get it right. The idea of control, deception, and the creation of importance from the meaningless seems more Satanic than noble.

He continues: “Who doesn’t want their copy to go viral? To be shared. To spread like, frankly, a disease….With powerful alchemy, we will have turned people into consumers. Into Believers. We will have become god’s of advertising!” 

There seems to be an obsession with controlling people and gaining something at their expense, at creating something from nothing, and focusing on using our persuasive abilities for personal gain rather than for the good of others.

What has happened to responsibility? He states this: “Your exact philosophy will be a function of percentages. I’d say my current philosophy is 60% passion to 40% responsibility.” This leaves a person to be driven mainly by their passions, and somewhat subdued by their responsibility. Yet without God, what does responsibility even look like?

What is even sadder is that this advertising guru seems to have captured the actual thinking of our culture. This mindset is confused, self-absorbed and out of control. He said this: “The fantasy of winning untold riches is at the crux of human desire. It drove countless throngs into the California wilderness looking for gold. A few found some. More died trying. Still, there was that chance…And yet who didn’t buy a lottery ticket this week? I’m willing to bet millions of people who otherwise despise the 1% stood in line for a shot at becoming one. Perhaps these myriad hopefuls believe, upon winning hundreds of millions of dollars, that they would not become selfish snobs living only for pleasure and hedonism. One need only look at rock stars and pro athletes to see how that plays out. Sure, I’m generalizing (there are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are great philanthropists) but you must concede the point: We are all willing to chance our integrity for the possibility of riches. It’s the American Dream.”

The American dream--the idea that our forefathers fought and died for--was that we might have the chance to abandon our integrity on the altar of chance? This seems like a distortion at best, and, once again, Satanic at worst.

Those who have learned to be content in any state, they are truly unique. They are either mentally challenged or challenging others’ mentality.

If one is chasing significance, security, or contentment, they will never find it, for it is a gift that cannot be earned and is given to those who discover and respond to God’s mercy.  The purpose behind the advertising industry is to foster a dissatisfaction with all things present, while promising that whatever they offer will finally bring them the satisfaction, in the present.

False hopes and dreams based on lies and manipulations do not make for a better life.

Americans are easily manipulated into believing that it is possible to have our best life now, and they diligently seek it, until they realize that it has all been a sham, and it is too late to pull out of the materialistic tailspin we have started.

Modern advertising is based on using people, not loving people. It is based on greed and covetousness, and uses half-truths, lies, and distortions to manipulate. Advertising, television shows, movies, etc. are based on the “pretend,” and have become more important to us than reality, which is getting even harder to identify. It is the stuff American dreams are made of.

The only way to render this medium powerless is to turn it off. We need to choose to often and intentionally create a Sabbath rest when we spend time with God and each other. We need a standard by which we can measure all information. We need a filter, outside of ourselves, that can sort out the clever lies from the sometimes mundane truth.

Truth sets us free, lies enslave, and those who have no truth have no good choices. If we refuse to reject that which destroys, we choose to be destroyed.

It is even possible and even probable that the very people and institutions that were set up by God to oversee abandons their responsibility as they did in Jeremiah’s time. Jeremiah 14:14 states this: And the Lord said to me:“The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Any nation that is ruled by the “lie” is not ruled, but is manipulated, and will pay a significant price. Right before the previously stated Jeremiah passage, God told Jeremiah the following: The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. (Jeremiah 14:11-12 ESVST)

No one is guaranteed a second, third, or fourth chance, and those “prophets and priests” who proclaim that God never gives up must not read what God has said and done in the past. Believing something does not make it true, for truth stands even if I do not believe it.

Unless Christians actually become Christ-followers and guard our minds, we will lose our minds, and the very purposes we were created to enjoy will be the considered unachievable.

It is impossible to love this world and love God. We will prove God right on this one way or another.