I clipped out an article in 2010 from Fast Company  that was written by Ben Paynter, titled “Five Steps to Social Currency”.  I was so struck by Paynter’s five steps/lessons that I thought they would be worth exploring in depth and applying some of our purposed worKING thoughts to what he has written.  This will be the fifth and final part of our five part series.

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”

This will be short as it’s right to the point.  Gimmicks don’t work. The don’t attract, they repeal. When a company does something gimmicky online we see right through it and we get turned off by the brand or company.  The real challenge, as Paynter is trying to teach us is how to know the difference.  I say, “It’s all in the gut”.  If we can honestly say that the gimmick will cause someone to spend a dollar today and another tomorrow and the next day, then there might be something to pursuing the idea.  But, if it is just about the laugh, then honestly, rethink the approach before you green-light the campaign or program.  Funny can still sell…like “Eat more Chickn”, but as they said on Hill Street Blues, “Let’s be careful out there”.

I run across those who call themselves “faith-based or faith-driven investors”.  In all honesty, they make me nervous, because when I see this portrayal I wonder, “real or gimmick?”  I know, this must sound harsh, but let me be clear as to why I feel so strongly.  When one puts themselves out there and then turns out to not be the real thing, it hurts the Kingdom’s purposes.  I’m involved with one of these situations now.  The “faith-based” investor is now not following the basic principle of fairness.  All involved are now seeing him in a different light and wondering what we have been sold?

We have a huge responsibility when we tell others that we are follower of Jesus.  When we go to advocate (as we read in Part One of this series) others are waiting to see when and how we trip up and prove that we are just a bunch of phonies.  Look, we all will fail.  We know it.  Others know it and God surely knows it.  But, if our intentions are to not lead with a gimmick but instead to lead with what is truth and authenticity, then when we do mess up, there is still redemption to be gained.

Thanks for reading along in this series.  It was fun to write and while I don’t know Ben Paynter, I thank him for teaching us all some important things about how we go about our business….and our lives.

Reference: Luke 12:48 (New Living Translation)