I was at a bookstore recently and next to the Christian mints I saw little packets of "Harvest Seeds" for sale at the checkout counter--9 pieces of candy corn with a Bible verse on the package for 79 cents. I bet if some non-Christian kids got a pack of those they'd be believers by the time they finished off the package. Check out what a website selling the stuff has to say about it:"This delicious Award Winning candy corn is made with real honey. Each piece of Scripture Candy is like that seed planted by the sower in the parable spoken by Jesus in Matthew 13; it has the potential of producing a tremendous harvest. Every bag of candy has a different Scripture Verse on it. This is the perfect candy to give away during the Autumn and Halloween season as a way to witness to your friends, neighbors and family. It's a great way to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ."
A great way to spread the gospel? It's candy. "The potential of producing a tremendous harvest?" It's candy! (Though not just any candy, candy with a Bible verse on it.) "A great way to witness." Or maybe a ridiculous waste of 79 cents.
Looking for some Christmas ideas? I recently saw that just in time for Christmas there is a going to be a Christian video game coming out that is based on the Left Behind book series--you know, the "made out to be an accurate biblical interpretation of the end times but is really a gross perversion of the truth" that has somehow caught a following of millions of unsuspecting Christians. The game is called Left Behind: Eternal Forces. I bet it is almost as fun as Saints of Virtue, the first person shooter where you can "overcome enemies like Pride, Fear, Vanity, and Self-righteousness while navigating an immense world full of traps, mazes, puzzles, and suprises." I bet it's great... or maybe it probably wont' be making my Christmas list this year... or at least it will be down the list from Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now game.
Why do people buy this stuff? Do they really think that it's ok to be materialistic and overconsume if the objects of their obsession have some sort of Christian label? Do they think that they are escaping the big evil world by buying lots of Christian junk instead of worldly junk? Do some feel the need to be identified by the stuff they buy and on some level they think if they buy "Christian" stuff they will be better Christians?
Though I am often a long way from where I want to be, I can honestly say that my faith goes deeper than these things. I'm not afraid to say that I'm more than a little sickened that these things even exist and are bought with any regularity. Millions of people around the world are starving, Christians in many countries live with the constant fear of government persecution, and we are buying "Christian" candy corn for 79 cents.
7 comments:
Kinda reminds me of "Ballad in Plain Red"...Derek's pretty profound sometimes.
"...just keep selling truth in candy bars
on billboards and backs of cars
truth without context, my favorite of all my crimes
cause everything’s for sale in the 21st century."
hmmm.....
Amy seems to be borrowing from my vocabulary....
and geoff, i simply have no idea what the big deal is....i mean, i love testamints and i know you do too. they keep your breath way more fresh than mentos...and mentos is the freshmaker!!
after being employed by the coporate christian bookstore for almost a year, i think i can safely say that i think Jesus would turn most of it over if He came in...
by the way Ame, i just took a test and my after test reward was a 3 musketeers and a coke(only drink mtdew from taco tierra)
heres the real question....is it wrong to apply for a job at said coporate christian store? alittle hypocritical perhaps?
Herschel - I have actually been thinking about that, and I honestly don't know how I feel. Christian bookstores sell a lot of good stuff... like actual books that you can't buy in other bookstores, but I hate walking in the store most of the time because of all the other stuff that's for sale. The real question isn't just about whether or not to work at a Christian bookstore that sells "Harvest Seeds" and things like that, but whether or not to work at ANY place that operates in a way that goes against your principles. I would like to think that I would never work for a credit card company because they thrive on people not understanding/being disciplined with credit. Honestly, though, if I needed a job and couldn't find one somewhere else, I'd probably take a job at Mastercard if they offered me one. Really, how many places can you work that you are going to be comfortable with everything they do? I would say the opportunities are pretty slim.
yeah true dat man...
if we are honest with ourselves, i dont know of one business that i would completly agree with what they do....and i am being specific when i say BUSINESS...i cant think of any...
so like nov 16-27 i will be home for thanksgiving/reading week....we should definitly hang out...or go out.....or even...make out....just kidding
hahahahahahaha
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