a personal rant on marketing to Christians

So I'm going through the latest CBD catalog and I see that they came out with the "Christian" version of the movie High School Musical. I also saw the Christian version of guitar hero, the Christian version of Barbie, and the Christian version of American Girl dolls. I could probably keep going but my reactionary son took the catalog and threw it in the fire.

This stuff kind of weirds me out. Who makes these decisons? "Hey, rubiks cube is popular, why don't we put a cross on it and market it to Christians. We'll call it the Jesus Cube. The Jesus Cube--many possibilities but only one true answer.

I don't know why it bothers me so, but there is just something not right about it. Something that would really bother the Old Testament prophets. My daughter has the "Christian" version of an American Girl doll, which looks exactly like her evil-secular-worldy counterpart, except that this one carries a bible. Yipee! They even have the christian version of Harlequin romance novels.

I kinda think that Jehovah has something different in mind when He gave us the command to "be holy".

Personally, I think that whoever creates these products has tapped into a deeper truth about our little subculture called the American Evangelical Church--that we want everything the "world" has, but are to proud or self-righteous to admit it. So we give the product a slight tinker, throw a bible verse on it, and they're selling it at Hackman's.

This is the Israelites all over again. When Joshua led them into the promised land,their biggest temptation was to fit-in with the world around them. Not totally abandon their way of life (the Lord, etc.), but adapt it to fit-in with their neighbors. They wanted to have their cake and eat it too, to live with one foot in two worlds.

We are the people of Israel.

I love the game monopoly. I hope they come out with a christian version soon so I can play without feeling guilty. Oh, wait, they already have one--Bibleopoly. I love playing rummy. I was so relieved when they finally made cards featuring people like Moses and David. They use cards with pictures of kings in queens in....gulp....bars.

Jesus endorses more products these days than Tiger Woods. I wonder how He feels about it? Do you think he is pleased with the "Jesus Saves" piggy bank which sanctifies saving money like no other bank and can be yours for the low price of $10.99?

Someone call me when they come out with the christian version of of the big mac.

grace & blessings,
pjim