On Christians and Boycotts, Bans, and Petitions
But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, ]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Bud Light and Target have been making the news in the past few months. The backlash over the Dylan Mulvaney[i] beer cans has been so severe that Bud Light is now giving its product away through the use of rebates.
There are now a host of companies involved deliberately involved in mocking God and destroying lives. The Los Angeles Dodgers proposed to give a community award to a group that mocks Jesus Christ in the most lewd and unimaginable ways. Nike and Disney have also entered the fray.
Target, a company that has been pumping an anti-biblical social agenda for some time now, has gone even further. It has now introduced LGBTQ-friendly clothing targeted at children.
The Bud Light “boycott” is not really a boycott at all. No one organized it. It is simply a visceral reaction from the public to an agenda that has been forced upon people. I heard one person say that now the sight of a Bud Light can makes him sick. This is not transphobia or even hatred of trans people, it is the forcing of an agenda on people and the destruction of a culture. People believe that they are being forced to believe and promote a lie.
Don’t boycott.
How are Christians supposed to respond to such things? It would be rather silly for me to call on fundamental Baptists to boycott Bud Light. Although it would not be quite as pointless as it might have been 15 years ago.
I have never been a fan of boycotts and petitions. They are usually used as a means of bullying a company, institutions, or even an individual. It requires a sustained and often artificial effort to gin up opposition and the foundation for that opposition can be exaggerated or misinformed. And it usually is temporary—focused on a particular, very limited issue.
Boycotts and petitions presume that once the targeted company or organization concedes to a specific set of demands, business will return to normal. A change of heart or philosophy is not required.
Turn away.
Turning away is different than boycotting. The appropriate Christian reaction to such overt sin in our culture is similar to Bud Light response among the general public. Just leave. Organizing petitions and boycotts is temporary and usually futile.
Just live out your values in everyday life and let the consequences fall where they may. There comes a point where I walk down the aisle of a store and the Spirit that dwells within me says, “You should not be here and you definitely should not bring your children here.”
I am finished with Target. I do not care how many other people go to the store, what boycotts are happening, or whether or not the store is succeeding. As a believer, walking down an aisle where a gay-trans agenda is being pushed upon children is abhorrent to me. A company that promotes such an attack on children will never ever get my business again. There is no decision that I have to make. The Spirit that dwells within me has made it for me. No organization is necessary. I am not going to watch the news to see how the boycott is going. I am not going to go back when the clothing line is dropped.
This does not preclude me from seeking to reach all people with the gospel. I do not have to support sin in order to love people who are mired in it and do everything I can to help them find the life-transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am not interested in feeling powerful—in being able to say “We sure showed them!” What I want is to be holy and pleasing to my Lord, and He already stated what He thinks of such an agenda.
Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6)
Christians do not have to organize boycotts or petitions to impact society. All they have to do is walk in obedience to the Word and the Spirit.
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God . . . .
But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 10-11)
Listen to this article here:
[i] Dylan Mulvaney is a trans woman (a biological man who dresses and acts like a teen girl) who has rocketed to notoriety in the past year or so.
It’s a great blog Pastor Schaal. The world has certainly turned upside down. I think that Romans
1: 24-31 and Psalm 81:12 is certainly true in this case and as you say that what we need to do is to walk in obedience to the Word and the Spirit and pray. I don’t know if they would ever turn away from their wicked ways. For all we know they may never change and will have to bear the consequences. I don’t know. Some may have change of heart. Only God knows. It’s just a sad sad world now.
I didn’t know about Target and the news that you mentioned. At least I have become aware of it.
Thank you.
I like to go to Target and leave gospel tracts inside the beer boxes and book sections.
Well said Pastor Schaal! Just walk away and be sure to take your children with you. We are very blessed to live in a country where we can choose where to live, shop, dine, go to school, etc. Choose wisely.
I appreciate your insight on this subject and respect your opinion. However, for me personally, I believe boycotts and petitions have their place. I think of a child receiving a punishment for bad behavior. A wise parent explains why the punishment is necessary. When a parent says, “You know why …” (which parents sometimes do), the reason for the punishment is lost on the child if they truly don’t know why. Back to boycotts. If a company loses business without knowing the reason for the loss, they may assume it is because of a weak economy or any number of other issues. Boycotts and petitions serve to speak a specific message: “I am not in agreement with what you are doing.” Should we speak with kindess? Yes. Should we show appropriate behavior? Yes. Does silence have its place? Yes. But silence is not always the way to stand up for Christ—primarily because silence may not reflect a clear message as to its purpose.