Make it happen!

During the Thanksgiving holidays I saw a rather interesting television commercial highlighting the good customer service provided by The Royal Bank of Scotland.

The setting for the commercial is a fine restaurant with white tablecloths and with what appears to be a rather elite clientele. The focal point of the commercial is a table where four people are engaged in a business luncheon. In the course of the meal one of the diners, a Mr. Jacobson, gets some food caught in his throat and begins to choke, gasping for breath.

One of the diners nonchalantly glances at Jacobson and turns to the others and glibly remarks, “Hey. Isn’t Jacobson choking?”

Another diner in a detached, blasé way admits, “Yeah, I’d definitely say Jacobson is choking.”

The first diner responds, “I know exactly what to do. I’ve seen it in the movies. It’s called the Heimlich maneuver. You make a ball (with the fists), stand behind the guy, pull hard, and the action on the solar plexus expels the food.”

No one at the table of the man in distress lifts a finger to help him. They just talk about his dilemma and the procedure that could potentially save his life. While they uncaringly discuss the sad plight of this helpless table companion, another man in the restaurant from another table comes to the rescue, applies the Heimlich maneuver and the choking diner expels his food and once again begins to breathe freely.

The man who was talking, having observed the maneuver successfully administered, adds his final remark, “See, just like I told you.”

Then come the words of the commercial voice over, “Less talk! Make it happen!” That is the message of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The phrase, “Make it happen” is somewhat similar to Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It.”

Dan Wieden, Nike’s co-founder, is the one who coined the now-famous slogan “Just Do It” for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th Century. Wieden’s simple, but brilliant ad campaign has been enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute.

Do you have any idea where Wieden got the idea for his creative phrase? Interestingly, his inspiration came from a killer’s last words. Gary Gillmore, the first American to be executed in the late 70s after the death penalty was reinstated, met his death at the hands of a firing squad in Utah.

Gilmore’s last words were “Let’s Do It.” Weiden tweaked the words for better effect in his advertising campaign and so now we have Nike’s “Swoosh” and “Just Do It,” which has made the company the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment.

I am afraid those of us who name (claim?) the name of Christ are too much like the diners at Jacobson’s table. We are good talkers. We can assess the decline of the church, discuss the debauchery of our society, and pontificate about all the possible solutions. However, we are short on actions.

It is too late in the game to be sitting in the basement of the church drinking coffee, eating crumpets, and reading the minutes of the last meeting. We need action, involvement, servants, and soul winners.”

I was reading the other day about the longest filibuster in the United States Senate. That ignominious distinction goes to the late South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who talked against the 1957 civil rights bill for 24 hours and 18 minutes – longer than anyone has talked about anything in Congress.

Fortified with a good rest, a steam bath, and a sirloin steak, the senator started his one-man filibuster on Aug. 28, 1957 at 8:54 p.m. He railed on the bill, declaring it unconstitutional and “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Senator William Knowland of California protested Thurmond’s endless speech and declared that it was “cruel and unusual punishment to his colleagues.”

I am all for communication, dialogue, discussions, and a friendly banter now and again, but it is time to “Just Do It” and “Make It Happen.”

The Apostle Paul declared, “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power” (I Cor. 4:20). Paul did not come to the Corinthians with some fine sounding religious words – puffs of audible air to those who would listen. He came with the true spiritual power of the kingdom.

That is what we need in 2008 – true spiritual power borne out of prayer, self-denial, and surrender. When we have that our vain conversations will transition into a spiritual dynamic that will empower us to “Just Do It” and “Make It Happen.”