I am not a fan of Jesus Junk. Normally, I don’t bregrudge someone’s ability to make a living, but Christian bookstores and Christian companies that sell trinkets to them are driving me crazy. A while back, I walked into the children’s section of our local Christian bookstore and behold…David and Goliath action figures. Dress up sets, including the breastplate of rightiousness. Huh?
Christians are copycats. And not even good ones. These Jesus trinket-sellers are preying on our desire to follow Christ in every area with less than quality directions as to how. We need to be leading the way in creating art. Over the next several weeks I will be throwing in a post each week about why I like Christian book, but not their bookstores…Stay tuned!
Do you have reasons why you dislike Christian media or retailers? Email me and maybe you’ll make my future posts.
jasongordon.org 
5 responses to “I like Christian books, but not their bookstores…Part 1”
While I may agree with you about the trinkets for adults, I have to somewhat disagree with you for the kids things. Some of the toys and such can be great conversation starters. If a child is reading his children’s Bible, he (or she) may not be able to actually picture the events taking place. Using such action figures could be an enormous tool for demonstrating and solidifying the message presented.
Inga…
I agree with you…my thoughts on this, which I will get into deeper in another post, is, why market these things to only Christians? Christian parents are more than likely going to find a way to explain things to their kids, but what is there for non-Christian kids? If the product is such high quality, why not put it into Target stores, Walmart, and Meijer?
Because too many people “do not want to offend.” Many people, my mother included, would feel that if they put David and Goliath action figures in secular stores, they would also have to find equal shelving for a Buddha and Allah. While Christians would not think twice about having such toys in secular stores, non-Christians would demand equal space for other religions, while they might not be practicing at all!
Toy companies place the toys where they will sell them (marketing), but depend on Christians to spread the word. I am hoping that their idea is that if Christian families buy the toys, they will invite their non-Christian friends over, thus sparking an interest.
I don’t have a problem with competing influences. Our God wants people to follow holim because they see the truth and have decided to, not because we hid all the competing options from their sight. More than likely, non-Christians aren’t going to come on our turf, we have to engage theirs. We also have to understand that most, not all, but most Christian music companies, publishing houses and distributing companies are owned by non-Christian parents. They aren’t concerned with reaching people, but making money off those of us who do.
Bibleman is the lamest of all. He’s a Power Ranger with a lightsaber, and he always looks ticked off.