I want to vomit
Please read the comments too - there is good discussion/clarification.
I went to our local christian bookstore today because I had some items to return. I haven't been to one of those in probably 10 years. When I buy books, I buy online. And I am by nature a bit of a cynic about the 'evangelical subculture' and the forms of commercialization of the faith you find in those stores.
But since these items were from there, I had no choice but to embark. When I first went in it was alright. Shelves of books on various topics. Then I got deeper into the store...and was appalled. I started writing down what I saw b/c I couldn't even believe it.
I expected Jesus-themed bumper stickers, t-shirts, bookmarks, stickers - that's par for the course for any movement that people strongly identify with, and although I won't put my money there i'm used to seeing it. But the other things...I am so upset that any supposedly Christian place would carry them. It's such blatant pandering to the idea that 'slap a christian label on it and they'll buy it'. I am deeply disturbed by the blatant prostitution of the Christian faith with commercialism for the sake of profit - and I can't think of any other conceivable explanation for the things I found.
Really what my problem boils down to is a difference in philosophy of how to display one's faith and build one's identity in God - and the idea that buying 'christian junk' as part of that is something I have seen become institutionalized and i strongly oppose that. I was raised to believe that God is the Lord of everything good and true - it doesn't need a 'christian' label to be valued and enjoyed and worthy of my time/attention/money. And that things labeled 'christian' should be evaluated as carefully as something 'secular'.
As Cheri on GCM said about this issue, "While some of the things can serve a purpose or be helpful for some people/families, the marketing of some things is just over the top. You can slap "Jesus loves you" on a jar of mayonaise and sell it in a Christian bookstore and charge an extra dollar for it because it is mayo for Christians or mayo for witnessing or whatever it is."
Here are some of the things in the store:
* "Dance Dance Praise" (DDR knockoff - some of my friends have clarified that they use this with their youth groups or b/c the regular DDR music annoyed them, so I feel more ok with it now)
* Apples to Apples "Bible Version" (i guess the regular Apples to Apples game is 'unchristian' but slapping some bible terms on cards makes it a spiritual experience???)
* "Scripture Candy" (hard candy whose wrappers have Bible verses on them)
* Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Ever" Game (don't even get me started on him...)
* Bible Rummy & Jonah Go Fish kids card games (b/c if there are bible characters on the cards that makes the game better than regular cards?)
* 'Christian' Tic Tac Toe (instead of X's and O's, the pieces are crosses and fish symbols - the sacred symbol of the cross profaned like that? IMO not ok in any way.)
There was a *lot* more, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to yell "Giving your child a 'christian toy' or 'christian game' isn't what builds their faith!" I was so profoundly disturbed and ANGRY. I am still angry. I don't cry easily, I don't anger easily.
But when I see the bastardization of our Christian faith for the sake of profit, coupled with the insidious philosophy that filling our lives with things branded with Christian symbols helps us be more holy or 'set apart' for God something inside of me revolts. Those items come to be viewed as part of building one's Christian identity. But living out one's faith shouldn't be about outward branding by buying things with a 'christian' label.
I think is that spending one's money on goods with a 'christian' label can be detrimental to faith in several ways, including promoting the idea of a sharp divide between 'secular' and 'sacred' instead of viewing the whole universe as under God and that anything good in it comes indirectly (or directly) through Him - so if regular Go Fish is a good game, then there is absolutely no reason to have a 'christian' version. And marketing a separate 'christian' version of a perfectly good 'secular' item leads to a separate marketplace and subculture that views things with a certain symbol/label as 'more holy/better' than those without - and I don't think that view is a healthy one at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had to use up the merchandise exchange so I got a Hermie DVD for David and a children's CD of bible verse songs. I put the Bible verse songs CD on as I drove away. I was hopeful about the CD b/c I figured "how badly can they mess up bible verses?" Well...let me tell you.
I am never letting David listen to that CD. Each song was a single handpicked verse about being good (none of it in context) - no verses about who God is, nothing about Jesus, nothing about God's love or grace, nothing about having faith - the message was 'The Bible says be good so do it' end of story. Song after song after song. It was the last straw - I began sobbing, I was so upset. How could everything good and holy and sacred in the Christian faith have been twisted and packaged and sold for a price, all supposed to 'make us more christian' and all of it missing the whole point?
"Be good" is not the message of our faith! Jesus' message isn't 'shape up and be good', it's that we can't shape up and be good enough for God on our own - that Jesus came to rescue us from sin, reconcile us to God and each other, heal our hurts, conquer the power of death, and show us how to live through the Holy Spirit (we're not left to 'be good' by our own efforts). I will teach my children to do good because of God's love for us, not from a 'beat you over the head with bible verses' viewpoint. I shudder to think what message kids are getting who are immersed in the 'christianity=be good' viewpoint.
I have had a tenuous relationship with evangelical Christianity for awhile now...there is much in it I admire and identify with, and much that I strongly disagree with. But this commerialization, it puts me over the edge. I refuse to participate in it, i won't put my money there, I don't want my family exposed to it. I don't want my kids to get the idea that something like "Scripture candy" is 'christian' or more pleasing to God than regular lifesavers. God cares about our hearts, not the outward appearance (including bizarre 'christianization' of things we own).
I went to our local christian bookstore today because I had some items to return. I haven't been to one of those in probably 10 years. When I buy books, I buy online. And I am by nature a bit of a cynic about the 'evangelical subculture' and the forms of commercialization of the faith you find in those stores.
But since these items were from there, I had no choice but to embark. When I first went in it was alright. Shelves of books on various topics. Then I got deeper into the store...and was appalled. I started writing down what I saw b/c I couldn't even believe it.
I expected Jesus-themed bumper stickers, t-shirts, bookmarks, stickers - that's par for the course for any movement that people strongly identify with, and although I won't put my money there i'm used to seeing it. But the other things...I am so upset that any supposedly Christian place would carry them. It's such blatant pandering to the idea that 'slap a christian label on it and they'll buy it'. I am deeply disturbed by the blatant prostitution of the Christian faith with commercialism for the sake of profit - and I can't think of any other conceivable explanation for the things I found.
Really what my problem boils down to is a difference in philosophy of how to display one's faith and build one's identity in God - and the idea that buying 'christian junk' as part of that is something I have seen become institutionalized and i strongly oppose that. I was raised to believe that God is the Lord of everything good and true - it doesn't need a 'christian' label to be valued and enjoyed and worthy of my time/attention/money. And that things labeled 'christian' should be evaluated as carefully as something 'secular'.
As Cheri on GCM said about this issue, "While some of the things can serve a purpose or be helpful for some people/families, the marketing of some things is just over the top. You can slap "Jesus loves you" on a jar of mayonaise and sell it in a Christian bookstore and charge an extra dollar for it because it is mayo for Christians or mayo for witnessing or whatever it is."
Here are some of the things in the store:
* "Dance Dance Praise" (DDR knockoff - some of my friends have clarified that they use this with their youth groups or b/c the regular DDR music annoyed them, so I feel more ok with it now)
* Apples to Apples "Bible Version" (i guess the regular Apples to Apples game is 'unchristian' but slapping some bible terms on cards makes it a spiritual experience???)
* "Scripture Candy" (hard candy whose wrappers have Bible verses on them)
* Joel Osteen's "Your Best Life Ever" Game (don't even get me started on him...)
* Bible Rummy & Jonah Go Fish kids card games (b/c if there are bible characters on the cards that makes the game better than regular cards?)
* 'Christian' Tic Tac Toe (instead of X's and O's, the pieces are crosses and fish symbols - the sacred symbol of the cross profaned like that? IMO not ok in any way.)
There was a *lot* more, that was just the tip of the iceberg. I wanted to yell "Giving your child a 'christian toy' or 'christian game' isn't what builds their faith!" I was so profoundly disturbed and ANGRY. I am still angry. I don't cry easily, I don't anger easily.
But when I see the bastardization of our Christian faith for the sake of profit, coupled with the insidious philosophy that filling our lives with things branded with Christian symbols helps us be more holy or 'set apart' for God something inside of me revolts. Those items come to be viewed as part of building one's Christian identity. But living out one's faith shouldn't be about outward branding by buying things with a 'christian' label.
I think is that spending one's money on goods with a 'christian' label can be detrimental to faith in several ways, including promoting the idea of a sharp divide between 'secular' and 'sacred' instead of viewing the whole universe as under God and that anything good in it comes indirectly (or directly) through Him - so if regular Go Fish is a good game, then there is absolutely no reason to have a 'christian' version. And marketing a separate 'christian' version of a perfectly good 'secular' item leads to a separate marketplace and subculture that views things with a certain symbol/label as 'more holy/better' than those without - and I don't think that view is a healthy one at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had to use up the merchandise exchange so I got a Hermie DVD for David and a children's CD of bible verse songs. I put the Bible verse songs CD on as I drove away. I was hopeful about the CD b/c I figured "how badly can they mess up bible verses?" Well...let me tell you.
I am never letting David listen to that CD. Each song was a single handpicked verse about being good (none of it in context) - no verses about who God is, nothing about Jesus, nothing about God's love or grace, nothing about having faith - the message was 'The Bible says be good so do it' end of story. Song after song after song. It was the last straw - I began sobbing, I was so upset. How could everything good and holy and sacred in the Christian faith have been twisted and packaged and sold for a price, all supposed to 'make us more christian' and all of it missing the whole point?
"Be good" is not the message of our faith! Jesus' message isn't 'shape up and be good', it's that we can't shape up and be good enough for God on our own - that Jesus came to rescue us from sin, reconcile us to God and each other, heal our hurts, conquer the power of death, and show us how to live through the Holy Spirit (we're not left to 'be good' by our own efforts). I will teach my children to do good because of God's love for us, not from a 'beat you over the head with bible verses' viewpoint. I shudder to think what message kids are getting who are immersed in the 'christianity=be good' viewpoint.
I have had a tenuous relationship with evangelical Christianity for awhile now...there is much in it I admire and identify with, and much that I strongly disagree with. But this commerialization, it puts me over the edge. I refuse to participate in it, i won't put my money there, I don't want my family exposed to it. I don't want my kids to get the idea that something like "Scripture candy" is 'christian' or more pleasing to God than regular lifesavers. God cares about our hearts, not the outward appearance (including bizarre 'christianization' of things we own).