What It Takes

Summary

A few years back, a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos and Pepsi Max
was pulled before it had the chance to be aired.
That’s because a lot of Christians complained that it was too offensive.
Letters were written, petitions were circulated,
and some vowed never to eat Doritos or drink Pepsi again.
Given the controversial nature of this commercial,
it’s probably against my better judgment to show it to you, a group of Christians.
But that’s what I’m going to do,
and later, I hope you’ll understand why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpniiSFmOeI

It’s okay if you laughed, but do you see why people were upset at this commercial?
When I first saw it, I cringed.
The idea of Doritos and Pepsi selling their products
by using them for the symbol of the body and blood of Jesus?
Well, it seemed as if my deepest convictions were being mocked –
about what it means to be a Christian, about what it means to be the church.
(And just so you know, I didn’t like its portrayal of pastors, either.)
But you know, the more that I thought about this commercial,
the more I thought that maybe instead of inspiring anger
at an offensive attempt to sell us something (which it surely is),
it would be more fruitful for Christians to take it as a prophetic critique
of what churches are tempted to sell.