Brand Name Christianity

When I grocery shop I tend to check prices on everything. I have it down to a fine art now. I know how much certain items should cost because I buy them every week. It's so funny when The FisherMan asks what he can go get while we are in the store, to shorten the load for me, you know. Inevitably he comes back with brands that cost more but don't offer anything better than the no-name brands. At times the store brands actually taste better! It's a guy thing, I guess! "Hey, babe, this was only a $1!" "Oh, that's good, but, you know hon, the store brand is only 78 cents!" (I appreciate his help though!) When you get down to it, those pretty labels don't change the fact that it is still a bag of chips, ya know?

I have noticed the same thing in the Christian world. There are all kinds of things you can buy now to make you look like a Christian. Jewelry, clothing, plaques, dishes, even candy! But sometimes all those pretty labels don't disguise that it is still just a fallen (wo)man underneath. Just recently it was made glaringly apparent to me.

I was sitting in traffic and up ahead in the next lane was an older little truck. On the bumper were two stickers. One said "Got Jesus?" and the other said "Don't Get Left behind". Just as I read them their horn began to blow. Out the driver side window popped a toothless woman and she proceeded to...ahem...flip off another driver. Got Jesus? Don't get left behind!

Recently we were eating at a little chain restaurant when in walks a very unhappy family. Of course, they sat at the booth right behind us. Here we were just happy as could be and the mother in this family, wearing her cross necklace, could do nothing but fuss at her little boy! I mean, it was embarrassing, to the point that I started praying for them and it has haunted my thoughts since then and I have continued to pray for this precious little child. He wasn't totally still as they waited for the food. He was told he would get no food with the rest of the family because he didn't deserve it. Then he was lectured about how bad he was and how he wasn't to touch anything on the table.

When the father arrived at the table with the younger sibling he tenderly placed him in the high chair and quietly talked to the children. I thought, "Well, maybe she is overly stressed or maybe it is Dad that does more of the nurturing." But the situation quickly deteriorated once again. When they got their food the little fellow did get a piece of bread. But when he laid his head on his mother's arm he was reprimanded. When he continued to attempt to get close to her she kept pushing him away until it finally resulted in her shouting at him to get off of her. His father started to telling him in a low voice to be still. When the child wasn't perfectly still it finally wound up with the father yelling at the child to shut up (repeatedly). That all he had to do was be quiet but he couldn't even do that. His brother could behave better than him and he was just a baby. Oh, it was bad, y'all, really bad.

Now during all this the restaurant had other customers. The thing that should have stood out was that we had 3 or 4 different sets of people stop at our table to comment on our family, play with the baby, or say they had so enjoyed watching us with our children. No one stopped at their table. They were too afraid!

Well, I kept praying as to what to do. Many of y'all reading this know me personally. Some of you worked for me when I was in Early Education. You can just imagine my reaction to all this! I felt very strongly that I needed to say something. But I wanted it to be something that would encourage her and make her evaluate how she was treating this child. I honestly wasn't trying to judge her. You could see that she was already just beat down and criticism wasn't the answer.

So when The FisherMan got up to throw away our trash and her husband got up to get drink refills it gave me a clear view and I caught her eye. I jumped in! I asked her how old her children were. One and four. The same as the two I had with me. I told her how precious they were and that they were blessings. I told her what beautiful children they were. No response to that, not even a smile.

When she asked about mine I told her. She was surprised at the age gap. She said her brother was 15 years older than her and she couldn't understand why her mother would want more. How could I do it? Like I told her, mine were all "surprises" but I could not imagine life without them and they had changed me all for the better. God knew what he was doing! Personally, she wanted a couple more, but close together so she could get them all out of the house at the same time and not be burdened any longer than necessary. When I pointed out to her that she would be lonely for them she was quick to correct me. In the end, I told her to be encouraged. These days were short and will pass quickly. Enjoy her children. They change so fast and will grow up. I don't even know what all I exactly said but I just tried to encourage her. I'm sure she knew we had heard the table conversation.

Now she had her cross on. The other woman had her bumper stickers. But the labels didn't mean much. Once they opened up, the labels were trashed. I'm not saying Christian t-shirts are bad or crosses or anything else. Goodness, The GuitarMan has a boocoodle of that stuff. Rather I am saying to be careful assuming someone truly loves the Lord just because they have any of it. Sometimes you might miss out on an opportunity. Also be aware that you are being watched. So if you have any of these things and you "lose your Christianity" in the moment you may destroy all chances of witnessing. So be careful with labels. Be more than just a brand name Christian. Sometimes it turns out that the plain old labels have a better flavor and offer more.