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He’s back.
The last time we saw The Most Interesting Man in the World, he was boarding a rocket holding a one-way ticket to Mars.
As he waved goodbye to the people of Earth, the narrator of the 30-second TV commercial solemnly informed us, “His only regret is not knowing what regret feels like.”
The man behind the advertising myth is the actor Jonathan Goldsmith. Between 2006 and 2016, he hawked Dos Equis, a Mexican brew that desperately needed a memorable ad campaign to stand out from the crowd.
Goldsmith proved to be solid gold.
Against a backdrop of gentle Spanish guitar riffs, the mellow-voiced narrator would calmly recount some of the things that make him so very interesting:
When in Rome, they do as he does.
If he were to pat you on the back, you would list it on your resume.
In a past life, he was himself.
If opportunity knocks and he’s not home, opportunity waits.
He is The Most Interesting Man in the World.
Then Goldsmith would declare, “I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis” – before signing off with, “Stay thirsty, my friends.”
The campaign more than tripled the size of the Dos Equis brand. It was no surprise that the company came calling once again after a ten-year hiatus. Would Goldsmith (who is now 87 years old) be willing to star in a new series of commercials?
He didn’t hesitate: “I’m so excited to reintroduce this character to new and old fans alike,” he said last month, shortly after the first of the new ads debuted during the NCAA national championship football game.
It’s worth noting that Goldsmith’s real life has actually been, well, rather interesting.
He was born in the Bronx into a Jewish family of Russian descent. His acting career has featured over 350 television appearances on 45 different series, including 17 episodes of Dallas. He played five different cowboy “bad guys” who were, at one time or another, shot dead by none other than Sheriff Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke.
He and his wife, who used to live on a sailboat off Marina del Rey, currently have a home in Vermont.
They’re active in a variety of charitable causes, including landmine victim support, intervention for trafficked children, and rescuing Siberian tigers. In 2017 he published a memoir called Stay Interesting: I Don’t Always Tell Stories About My Life, But When I Do They’re True and Amazing.
I just hope I can still spell the word “interesting” when I’m 87.
So, does Jonathan Goldsmith, the actor / adventurer / philanthropist / man-of-the-world, have any serious competition in the “most interesting” department?
Jesus of Nazareth can give him a run for his money.
As we’ve noted on a number of occasions, no one knows what Jesus looked like. Not a single physical description was reported by his peers. Yet no one doubts that Jesus and his earliest band of followers have been the subjects of more works of art than any other figures in history.
Typically, whenever we see a picture of Jesus, we simply know him when we see him.
Jesus never wrote a book. Yet Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, and Harvard were all founded as centers of learning devoted to his teachings.
In his book Who is This Man? John Ortberg points out: “It is in Jesus’ name that desperate people pray, grateful people worship, and angry people swear. From christenings to weddings to sickrooms to funerals, it is in Jesus’ name that people are hatched, matched, patched, and dispatched.”
Humility, compassion, and forgiveness – three qualities scorned by the ancient world – became prominent Western virtues almost solely because of Jesus.
There’s no end to the groups who claim to be “for” Jesus: Jews for Jesus, Muslims for Jesus, Ex-Masons for Jesus, Road Riders for Jesus, Wrestlers for Jesus, Clowns for Jesus, Puppets for Jesus, and even Atheists for Jesus.
It’s hard to dispute that for centuries he has been the real-life Most Interesting Man in the World.
But that’s only a small part of Jesus’ attraction.
If he were merely “interesting,” we could walk away from him and get on with the rest of our lives, the way visitors to a museum might take in a particularly intriguing exhibit, then shift their gaze to the next one.
Jesus might better be described as the Most Compelling Man in the World. He challenges our biases, unsettles our plans, and ruffles our feathers.
Timothy Keller noted, “Jesus combines high majesty with the greatest humility, he joins the strongest commitment to justice with astonishing mercy and grace, and he reveals a transcendent self-sufficiency and yet entire trust and reliance upon his heavenly Father.”
Historians have long noted the existence of two groups.
The first group has only a few members – individuals who founded a new religion or set the world on an entirely new course spiritually or philosophically. The second group includes men and women who have claimed to be divine.
Jesus is the only member of both groups.
Most members of the first group (such as Buddha, Plato, Muhammad, and Socrates) would never have claimed divinity.
And the great majority of those in the second group, who did claim to be God, have been written off as despots, cult leaders, or people who probably needed to get back on their meds.
Jesus is the only person who claimed to be God and whose character, actions, and teachings have persuaded a huge number of people to believe him.
What we know for sure is that there’s little chance he’ll be headlining a series of commercials any time in the future.
But if he did, it’s just possible he might sign off by saying, “Stay spiritually thirsty, my friends.”