Satisfaction Guaranteed

Discipleship is less about finding the right path, and more about following the right person.

“Satisfaction Guaranteed.” You see it stamped on boxes, printed on receipts, and splashed across storefront windows and websites. It is the promise we crave before we buy. The phrase was part of the consumer lingo-sphere long before Mick Jagger began complaining that he “can’t get no satisfaction.” Today, the concept of guaranteed satisfaction has wandered far beyond Jagger’s personal problems and the shopping malls of America. It is a short story by Isaac Asimov, song titles across multiple genres, and a marketing pledge that often means, “Trust us — you won’t be disappointed.”

The expression has its origins in the retail mail order business. Montgomery Ward is thought to be the first retailer to make this unequivocal and remarkable promise when he founded the first successful general merchandise mail-order business in 1872. His guarantee was a revolutionary and essential marketing tool aimed at building trust. People in...