A recent email from a marketing guru hit my inbox just about the time I was reading Luke 3:7-14. I was struck by the contradiction – the marketing guy was basically encouraging me to be a nice person, to pay for influencers to say nice things about my books, and to create a nice, consistent, enticing message.
By contrast, John the Baptist begins in verse seven with, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?”
I had to laugh. There’s some junkyard in John: blunt, critical, not real concerned with your feelings. I don’t think the marketing guy would approve of John’s approach.
John was basically a first century influencer. He had a message, a following, and a platform. But instead of being paid hundreds of thousands to post a picture of a purse on Instagram, John was a bit more unorthodox.
I guarantee he wasn’t happy when his fans asked if they could take a selfie with him. John was bonkers.
Or was he?
In modern jargon, JB (as I’m sure a marketing guy would start calling him) built a brand around fiery condemnation of sin. He was consistent on this to the point of losing his head – both metaphorically and in actuality. Weirdly, he was a popular figure. Mainly because, again weirdly, his message made sense. The times were crazy, people were longing for something redemptive, and JB got back to basics.
If you look at the passage in Luke it actually has a message of hope. Oh sure, he calls everyone a brood of vipers, tells them to repent (implying pretty heavily they had a lot to repent from), and belittles their family lineage.
But look how people respond. Instead of unfollowing him (or worse, blocking him) they ask him, “What should we do then?”
And John’s answer?
– Share something you own (v11).
– Don’t enrich yourself at the expense of others (v13).
– Don’t extort people for gain (v14).
That’s surprisingly positive for a guy who just called everyone a brood of vipers. And curiously all of it is economic based. You might even call it generous.
To be amused I went back to the marketing guru’s email. Apparently for $20k I can get a celebrity influencer to promote my book. Make it $30k and I can get the celebrity endorsement, a devotion on the YouVersion bible app, and an interview with some magazine I’ve never heard of.
Sigh. It makes me want to hit reply and say, “You brood of vipers!”
Of course I’ll probably end up working with a marketing team at some point. They can do good work and they can be effective at getting an important message out.
But I’m going to be drawn to someone speaking truth before any paid celebrity. I’d rather be insulted by a madman in the desert … who also tells me to be generous, be fair, and act justly … than pay a celebrity to promote my books.