“Branding”

BIBLE READING: Acts 11

                Coca-Cola, Google and McDonalds, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, you know exactly what these companies are and what they do.  The reason they are so recognizable is that their very name is an exact representation of their product.  The process is called “branding” and it is the marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products. An effective branding strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. As it relates to religion, branding is still important because of all the various faiths and beliefs that are prevalent in our world.  Up until this point of time in the book of Acts, the followers of Jesus were simply referred to as “the Way”.  Although that is exactly what members of the body of Christ are, part of the only “way” to salvation, that just wasn’t an ideal representation of who they were.  In fact, Isaiah 62.2 prophesies that one day God’s people will be called by a “new name”.  Even before the establishment of the Church, our Lord understood the importance of branding.  Acts 11.26 gives us the first time this new name was used, “…the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Not only does the name become synonymous with the believers of Christ, it has Him in our very name. Making the term Christian an exact representation of our product, Jesus.