I remember the first time I began understanding my pastor’s language. Spoken in a parable, he illustrated how one can prescribe ineffective medicine because of a faulty diagnosis and how our very own prejudice can blind us to the reality of such an error.
At first, his emphasis was on the perspective of the afflicted
“Some of you” he said, “perceive that you have a weight problem. You’re raiding the refrigerator at nights and you find you’re putting on weight, so you say ‘I have a weight problem’ but that’s not the problem something is causing you to gain weight-your eyes, you are too gluttonous. You have a weight problem because you have an eye problem-yuh greedy! Fix that and you won’t be so weighed down”.
Yet he wasn’t speaking about weight but the lust of the eyes and how it can hinder your spiritual life. Later on, he expounded on it in a different way, as a doctor administering ineffective aid to the sick, this time the emphasis was on the character of a person’s refusal to question the reality of their failure.
Was the angle misleading or was my understanding being disturbed on account of my perspective?
It took me a little while to even get a glimpse of what the spirit was saying but in that glimpse, I began to see my life prior to that experience and it’s a pretty miserable experience when you are on the outside looking in. It's an obscured perspective where a lot of things that are actually being communicated you miss.
There are a number of variables which qualifies you to decode something that’s designed for a special type of people. Many local small service businesses aren’t rebellious enough to walk here. They think everyone must be included and don’t understand a language that says otherwise.
Which is why I can sympathize with those standing on the outside of a brand language they don’t understand — I was there. What they don’t see is the mystery of the construct, that its designed specifically for a certain type of client that has what it takes to decode that message. Isn’t that what happened with Belteshazzar when The Lord numbered the days of his kingdom and brought it to an end? The message was written on the wall yet he was unable to decode it but Daniel wasn’t.
Now to the king, this was a curse but to Daniel, this was prophecy being fulfilled. His people were promised a certain time under Babylonish governance.
That a message can mean something different to the one it’s not intended to, can be displayed in the difference between a reader appreciating, agreeing or even liking something that may be confusing, different or disliked by another; you’re on the outside looking in and you just don’t get it! But it was never written for you. You are in fact, a mere casualty of the objective and when you try to prostitute your brand for those outside your audience by altering the characteristics of your brand’s voice, you risk losing a great percentage of those who agree with what you say and how you say it and you become generic and ineffective.
There is strength and power in being unapologetic about who you are and what you stand for and as a company your branding represents that message and look at it this way, you must be doing something right if the message resonates with people and if you are looking at the numbers…always remember quality customers over quantity is more important, only align yourself with like-minded customers. In the end, they are the ones that make the difference to your business.
Shake Your Cock N Bull Graphic Designs, my free Facebook group is exclusively for local founders who want to give their most secrete fears about being online a good shaking, so they can venture online with confidence!
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