Irony is wonderful. I love it. The problem is that it does not work too well in written text, which is probably the cause of a lot of misunderstandings.

As I cleared out the spam comments on this blog I noticed one that seemed ironic in the extreme. It was a spam comment that was advertising a product to reduce spam comments. Genius! Clearly because that comment got through, I need a spam comment filter. But if they did not send that spam comment my need for a spam comment filter would be reduced a bit.

It got me wondering whether there are other ways in which people create demand for their products with their products. I suppose adverts on telly for energy companies might be an example as we are consuming energy in order to watch the ad. Perhaps more ironic are ads that tell us to conserve energy. I like the irony of the global conferences on climate change – to which world leaders and their entourages all fly in planes that apparently contribute to the problem.

How can churches do the same? Perhaps we could put something outside our church that could be stolen and then if someone gives in to the temptation and steals it they find that it is chained to the wall and behind it is a message saying that grace and forgiveness are available inside.

I have heard street preachers tell people that they are sinners, worthless, unlovely and then when they are feeling low they say, “But God loves you.” Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgh!

I don’t see Jesus creating demand in that way. People came to him because they saw love and acceptance, they were not judged or condemned, they found grace, joy, peace, laughter, life.

As a free sample of Jesus, is that what people are getting from me today?

Be blessed, be a blessing