The Differences between Glory and PR

In a nutshell: Motivation, Justice, and Truth.

Motivation
A PR rep is someone who is motivated by selfishness. What they are paid, or what favors they will get, is the only reason they promote their products.

A worshipper of God has a selfless motivation – the desire to see God receive glory, and nothing else.

Justice
Money is spent on PR and advertising for products whether they deserve the attention or not. As is commonly known, sometimes the company that spends the most on advertising has the least-deserving product.

Giving God glory, on the other hand, is truly justice served. There is no thing, and no person, more deserving of glory than God. None, in fact, even comes close. To give anyone or anything else glory that belongs to God is an injustice and a moral travesty.

Truth
PR representatives are held to truth only by the law. And law is not all-encompasing – there are loopholes and gray areas in the law that PR reps and advertisers know well, and navigate easily. So there is always “spin” in advertisements of any kind, and usually some question about intentional omissions or outright lies.

Glory given to God, on the other hand, is always understated. We don’t have the words to describe, nor even minds to comprehend the glory God deserves. Whatever pitiful utterances and vocalizations we can produce as praise, He is humble and gracious to accept. However far we fall, or misguided we are, God is still kind enough to consider our intent as we live lives for His honor.

This article is not intended as a slam on Matthew Paul Turner, who humorously asserts (and proves daily on his blog) that Jesus needs new PR. But I think we as Christians do need to remember that giving God glory is not the work of a PR rep or an advertiser. It is a much higher calling than that, and one deserving our full-time attention in every activity we pursue. And it is one I have not remembered nearly well enough.