THE NEW (OLD) REAL THING “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” --- John 4:13-14 One of the biggest marketing blunders in recent history was the introduction of “New” Coke --- Or was it? Under the pressure of a dwindling (but still HUGE) market share, Coca-Cola executives decided to change the formula for its famous soft drink to try to stem the momentum its chief competitor, Pepsi, seemed to have. It was an apparent disaster! Nobody really thought it was better and loyal Coke drinkers were furious. But this is where the executives turned it around and made the strategy seem brilliant. Rather than sticking to a plan that wasn’t working, they went to Plan B, which was actually just scrapping the whole “New” Coke plan and returning to the old formula. They made the old formula new by calling it Coca-Cola Classic and not only did it bring back the original classic to those who missed it, it also helped introduce a whole new generation to it. For example, I had never discerned a difference between Coke and Pepsi, but when the “Classic” Coke came back, I realized that was the taste in cola that I far preferred. What if the modern-day church did the same thing? I believe that under the pressure of other growing religions, like Islam, the church has decided to “market” itself by creating a “New” Jesus. This “New” Jesus comes from a “perceived” need for a new, more relevant Jesus to fight back these growing religions that reject Jesus as their Savior. This “New” Jesus is “tolerant” of modern-day, alternative lifestyles and gives us a break from being holy due to the pressures of a post-modern society. He’s also a little too busy to care for everyone out there, so the church needs to fill in that gap by creating all sorts of works-related programs that may or may not be led by the Holy Spirit. Worst of all, there are multiple paths to the salvation most people, believers and not, want assurance of. In reality, this “New” Jesus is as phony and unappealing as the “New” Coke was to the old “Classic” formula lovers. The real Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and there is just one narrow path to salvation: “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved...For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” --- Romans 10:9 and 13 I believe that all those who hold court in the pulpits of today’s modern church can turn it around simply by doing the same thing Coke executives did 25 years ago --- Preaching the old Biblical Jesus. The creation of this “new” Jesus has made the real Jesus that much more attractive and “Classic”. I would submit that a real revival could follow when people realize that Jesus WAS, IS AND WILL ALWAYS BE the real Thing! | 
