Christian Brands and Discernment

Being Christian and having discernment is something that I, sort of, expect Christians to be good at and yet it appears that, far too often, my expectations are dashed and fall empty to the floor.

When it comes to deciding which brands are Christian, I'm finding that some of the easy choices are exactly that, after all, we 'know' they're dodgy because we were told this by people we trust or it's obvious because they're not mainstream (ever seen a kingdom hall or actually spoken to one of the two identically dressed Mormon clones that are sent to evangelise our towns?).

The problems come when:

i. We employ a tick box mentality which assumes that as long as we can garner enough ticks from whatever 'church, community or gathering' under the microscope then they are rendered 'safe'; and better still, as credible Christians.

ii. We decide that popularity is an indicator of theological integrity and moral rectitude.

iii. We look at the things people want us to see, and having seen what we were meant to, fail to see that we've just consigned the sheep we are called to care for to be taken up by shepherds such as are warned of in Ezekiel 34: 1 - 6:

"Then this message came to me from the Lord:
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal. They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them."

We need to work hard at discerning what is on offer with the Christian brands and the local franchises, even those of well-known and generally approved brands. It's not just us who are risk but others, who might rely on us to protect and advise them.

How are we doing?