The Devil Wears Prada Series

OPEN: The minister’s group I’m part of came up with this title: The Devil Wears Prada. It was based on a movie by that same name (and I found out later there was a Rock group that same name).

But in researching this sermon I found that Prada is a high class Italian fashion Company known for it’s original designs and product lines. And on their webpage I found this internet advertisement.

http://www.prada.com/en#!/advertising-campaign-ss12/man-video-campaign

What you’ve just seen is one of the two video commercials I found on Prada’s website. Personally, I found the commercial to be dull and annoying. But the 2nd time I reviewed it, I discovered that there something was missing from that commercial. Can you guess what I realized was missing?

It said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about Prada’s clothing or product lines.

All it showed was several young men standing around (supposedly in Prada clothing) all trying to look excessively cool in the sunglasses and playing guitars.

But the commercial said nothing about Prada’s product line.

They obviously weren’t selling clothes in that commercial.

So... what were they selling?

They were selling prestige, style, status, significance.

Essentially, that’s what all fashion houses have always sold. Their clothes are not that significantly different from what you’d buy at WalMart or Target. But fashion houses aren’t selling clothes and accessories… they’re selling an image. An image of what you could be like... if only you wore their clothing, and accessorized with their products.

They’re selling an image

And that’s what Satan does…. He sells an image.

As Paul says in our text this morning:

“…Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14

Now when I was a child I thought Satan was some scary dude running around in red tights and horns. (at this point we put a fairly scarey Satan.jpg on the overhead)

Now, seriously … would you really buy anything from this guy?

Of course you wouldn’t

He looks evil, scary... and very untrustworthy.

AND Satan knows that… so he’s not going to show up at your front door like that.

He masquerades. He dresses himself up in an appealing fashion.

Because his objective is to sell an image.

An image of what he wants you to think he is like.

And an image of what he wants to embrace about yourself.

It’s all about packaging.

Sata packages his product in such a way that you see what he wants you to see... not what his product would actually do to your life.

Just as an example of how Satan packages his product:

1. Would you be more inclined to buy cigarettes from this man? (The Marlboro Man) He’s handsome, rugged... a real man’s man.

Or would you buy cigarettes from this woman (a woman dying of lung cancer from smoking)

2. Would you be sexually attracted by this girl (sensual looking woman).

Or by this girl who’s dying of a sexually transmitted disease (image of woman who’s dying of AIDS)

3. Would you be tempted to buy alcohol from this friendly looking bartender (young man)

Or by this man who has taste tested alcohol most of his life (alcholic)

Satan tries to sell you the products that most reflects what people really want in life

Popularity.

Acceptance.

Manliness for men

Attractiveness for women.

Pleasure, success, achievement. Etc. etc.

But Satan is very careful how he packages those products because - if you ever really caught on to where his product line would lead - you’d never buy it!!!

ILLUS: Just as an example of how effectively Satan packages his product, I was talking with another minister this past week and he told of talking with a young girl that had been part of their church’s youth group a couple years back.

Now, she’s a pregnant unmarried teenager.

The dad was not in the picture… probably never would be.

And there she was.

Pregnant, faced with raising her child alone without a father.

And she’s not happy.

But she wasn’t unhappy because she was pregnant.

She wasn’t unhappy because the baby’s dad was not going to be in the picture

She wasn’t unhappy because her child probably won’t have the advantages that two parents would have given it..

No, she wasn’t unhappy because of those difficulties.

She was unhappy because the only clothes she can find that will fit were sold at Target or Wal-Mart. She couldn’t find her American Eagle and Tommy Hilfinger kind of clothing… because those companies didn’t make their product for pregnant teenagers.

Satan had sold her the image so effectively that she was not disturbed that she was unmarried and pregnant… only that she was out of style.

You see… Satan did his job right with her. She never knew guessed how much heartache was ahead for her because Satan had gotten her eyes fixed on “the image” that became so important to her.