Friday, June 28, 2013

Lexus Reveals My Hypocrisy!

When I first saw this commercial, I was amazed at how quickly I judged Lexus as a company that was promoting casual sex. That got your attention didn't it? Watch the video...if you haven't seen it before, pause it at 24 seconds then read the rest of the post then play the rest of it.

The first time I saw it I thought, "Great, another company pushing how great it is to have casual sex after a date." After all, the first scene looks like the guy is just meeting the woman. Then the couple seems to get to know each other in various locations around the city, only to return to (what I assumed) her house where she "invites him up." That thought lasted a second or two in that the last 5 seconds revealed my error in "processing the available data" WITHOUT knowing ALL of the available data! How often do we do that in life?? Have you ever heard of jumping to conclusions? You can play the rest of the video if you went for the "full effect" of this post and paused it!

Those last few seconds cast the story in a totally different light.  Now it seems this is a happily married couple who is enjoying an evening out. I had been had! In an instant I moved from being a self-righteous judge to a humbled hypocrite! 

In addition to my "humbling," I was able to see an even better message inherent in the commercial. To me, the family "angle" changed the message of the commercial from being an endorsement of sex without commitment, to a reminder that married couples should, like Lexus, engage in the "pursuit of perfection." The voice-over even says, "Here's to a life less routine." Sure, the commercial's "main" point is to buy a Lexus, but I know couples who don't seem to pursue anything to enhance their relationship as the years pass. This commercial reminded me of two important life lessons:

Lesson One: Take Matthew 7:1-5 seriously. Our Savior said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." 

Lesson Two: We should seek to have our love for each other (including our spouses) increase as we mature in Christ. We are not to settle for a love that is merely "routine." Paul reminds us of this in 1 Thessalonians 3:12: "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you." So don't judge a commercial by its first 25 seconds, and don't go looking for specks in other people's eyes until you make sure your eye is "board free!"