ZA MAGAZINE // seek truth.

In Sydney, there is a restaurant called “Pancakes on the Rocks.” Not since the release of the film “Snakes on a Plane” have I ever heard such a direct and obvious title. They’re located in the Rocks, a historic part of the city that’s now largely a tourist trap, and their main product is pancakes. They’ve since expanded to other locations, keeping the store name the same while still offering the pancakes that made them famous. What’s great about the name is that when I was told I had to go there, I knew where I’d have to find it and what I should be ordering.

So, when I visited the second best city in Australia (I studied in Melbourne, so I’m biased :P), I went to their location in a place called Darling Harbour, as the store in the Rocks was packed. And all I have to say is…wow! Let me tell you, these guys deliver. They had probably 15 or 20 kinds of pancakes to choose from, and when I finally had one, it was so good that my mouth is watering as I type this! I had the “Hot ‘n’ Troppo” cakes - buttermilk pancakes with grilled banana, walnuts, cream, chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce. They were expensive, but it didn’t matter. You went there to eat their famous pancakes and when you did, you were satisfied. This makes a winning formula.

What was surprising to me, though, is that Pancakes on the Rocks had a full menu and that people were actually eating from it. I suppose this is a smart business move. The pancakes will draw people in. People will come and get their fill and they’ll come back to try different pancakes, but eventually they’ll want something else to eat or else they’ll get bored and go elsewhere. Plus, people just aren’t always in the mood for pancakes. But it’s safe to say that in that restaurant, the entrees and appetizers and everything else are secondary to the main product. The place is still called “Pancakes on the Rocks,” they still feature pancakes prominently on the menu, the place still smelled like pancakes.

But what if new management came in and decided that, in order to try and spur the sales of their entrees, they would change the name? And since it’s not exclusively at the Rocks anymore, let’s ditch that too. So, for a new name, let’s go with…I dunno, how about “Australian Meals.” Still obvious, right? They’re in Australia and they serve meals. Those world class pancakes are still around, but a little bit more of the advertising is now going to promote the burgers.

Let me tell you, the place would flop! It doesn’t matter how good the burgers are, Australia doesn’t need another burger joint! The second Pancakes on the Rocks does anything to mess with their pancakes, either by de-emphasizing them or cutting costs on the ingredients…ANYTHING, and the franchise will slowly start to die.

On the flip side, if the new management sees that they have a winning formula with their pancakes, they can do pretty much anything they want and it will probably enjoy some level of success. They can have a chain of restaurants, they can cater their pancakes, they can sell them in stands on the street, but as long as it is these same delicious pancakes, their business will succeed.

This is a simple marketing exercise. There is a core competency (making really good pancakes) that has been made into a recognizable and memorable brand that has made a successful franchise.

Are Christians not the same?

1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

See, as Christians, we have only one core competency: Christ in us. We’re just as good as the empty storefront that Pancakes on the Rocks moved into. We’re a building that the Holy Spirit has chosen to occupy.

When our core competency (Jesus) is allowed to be the basis of our brand (the image that we present to the world), we’re unstoppable. If Christ is as dominant in ourselves as pancakes are to the restaurant, people will instantly know what we’re bringing and what we’re representing. When we have other things in our lives such as sports, careers, friends, and so on, we and others know that those things are subservient to Jesus, then those things add to the overall ambience of the temple without ever taking away from the most important part. If, however, we idolize other things to the point where we emphasize them over the thing we do best, we lose sight of who we are and ultimately blend in and become forgettable.

This is the lesson I learned today, and this is the analogy that I was given by the Lord. Jesus is the only thing we’ve got truly right with our lives; we’re nothing without Him. He has to be front and center or else we lose everything.

If you’ve got an awesome God, show an awesome God.

Grace and peace,
Brendan

Image taken by D’Arcy Norman under this license. These are not Pancakes on the Rocks pancakes, but tracking down a picture of theirs that I could legally use was problematic. Sorry!