A follow-up to the posting below about how Kraft Foods might save the Postum Brand of instant hot coffee-replacement beverage.
I suggested they employ a strategy of repackaging Postum with new content (real coffee), and then slowly bring old Postum back in. I ignored the obvious methodology, the one that passes the Occam's Razor test, and has been seen time and time again on you grocer's shelves.
Kraft wouldn't swift/change the product, even temporarily. The brand managers BELIEVE in Postum. It's their livelihood. No, rather than change the bland product for something stimulating and exciting, they'd change the packaging to be stimulating and exciting, while keeping the boring product that one would consume only out of habit or tradition.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that Postum itself is a fraud, a substitute for the real thing (morning coffee) without any of the benefits. No anti-oxidants, no caffeine, no flavor.
So too the mainline churches, who long ago replaced the real Body of Christ with a clubby fellowship of "people like us" who all hold in common a lowered expectation of the Christian life. Their great fears are enthusiasm and emotionalism, because they are against "club rules". They will promote pietism as a means of avoiding piety, and even spirituality to avoid the impact of the Spirit of God.
As these clubs continue to shrink, as their market-share declines, many have turned to a more stimulating package without reverting to authentic Spirit-based Christianity. Why?
Because following Christ Jesus is not what they offer, but a branded identity instead... denominationalism. It's loyalty to a comfortable "brand", and not to the unsettling Lord.
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