A story is told of a pastor entering the room where he was hosting a deacon’s meeting. The church was called Fellowship Baptist Church and had existed for over 100 years. Conversations around the table centered on ways for the old church to be more relevant in the community.

Over the years, attendance had waned, impacting the budget especially as it pertained to challenges of maintaining an antiquated building. The pastor proposed they change the name of the church from being a “Baptist church” to the sign reading Fellowship Christian Church. An old, grizzled deacon said, “Preacher, I have been a Baptist for 65 years, I am not about to become a Christian now.” It’s a humorous jab at the rebranding that happens as churches contemplate the value they bring to their community.

I once rebranded about 40 baseball caps. It was shortly after the Berlin Wall had come down and the complexion of eastern Europe was undergoing its own rebranding. My church had formed a relationship with a church in northwest Romania and had rounded up humanitarian supplies for delivery to the former communist country. In my squadron warehouse, I had found two boxes of baseball caps that had the letters ‘CSW’ written on them which was an acronym for Combat Support Wing. The base had transitioned to a fighter wing rendering the hats obsolete.

In a Romanian city park, we encountered some kids for whom the hats would make a perfect ad hoc gift. As we handed them out an older man suddenly walked up asking in a thick accent, “What does this mean? What is this CSW? In that split instance, I rebranded those military hats while explaining the acronym stood for ‘Christ Savior of the World”. The man smiled, put it on his head and walked off. Rebranding at its best. There was no reason for those hats to be any longer tied to an organization no longer in existence. And yes, I have mulled over the ethical dilemma I had danced with. Was I dishonest or just quick on my feet?

At times rebranding does not work very well, or does it? In the 1980s, Coca Cola changed their recipe to a supposedly new and better Coke. The April 1985 move was met with tremendous backlash as customers preferred the ‘classic’ version of the soft drink. As a result, for several years, you could buy ‘New Coke’ or ‘Classic Coke’ as the old familiar drink was retrieved from a short-lived retirement. Conspiracy theorists have mused as to whether the entire debacle was a publicity stunt to foster increased sales. Perhaps the Coca Cola executives knew all along there would be a massive protest.

Rebranding is a lot like putting a new coat of paint on an old building. It is basically the same structure while doing new things with colors or trim to attract attention. Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is far different than rebranding as we know it. The Bible teaches something far different occurring when a person is born again. II Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” It isn’t just a change of mind or turning over a new leaf. Becoming a Christian is a transforming fellowship with the Creator of the universe wherein the new believer is now part of the family of God through Jesus Christ.

Salvation could be contrasted with a presidential pardon which relieves someone of the legal consequences of their crime. However, a pardon does not negate the fact a person was convicted of a crime. In contrast, salvation through Jesus Christ is a much more powerful judicial proceeding. We are justified in Christ, which means righteousness has been attributed to us by virtue of the shed blood of Christ which has a powerful cleansing action from our sins. From Micah 6:19 (KJV) we understand that God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. From this verse, it has become common to say God casts our sins into His ‘sea of forgetfulness’ never to be retrieved. I would much rather have that God’s forgiveness than to just roll me in some paint for a rebranding.

Tony “T-Bar” Barnes is a 28-year veteran of the Marine Corps and Air Force. He is also retired from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Tony is active in patient advocacy roles and can be reached at tbarnugget@yahoo.com.