Target, Transgenderism, and the Toughest Love

What you applaud you encourage, but beware what you celebrate... 
~Ravi Zacharias

We went to an Amish nursery the other day. And we bought some flowers and we walked around and we petted the sweet puppies that this simple hard-working Amish family is selling. 

And I quietly marveled at the order and the neatness and the attention to detail and the unusual beauty of it all. 

Another world. 

I wanted to linger there awhile. 

I think that the Amish understand something that most of us have lost -- something that my mom often reminds me of--

That underneath the pavement, the concrete, the constructions and buildings and noise  (and the wild rush and race of "progressive" civilization) is dirt. 

Simple, unassuming, real, gritty dirt. 

A reminder of where we have all come from and where our physical bodies will eventually return. 

Every person -- from dust to dust. 

And what we do here with this tiny span of life given to us -- minute in the hush of the infinitesimal song of eternity -- matters. 

We get so caught up in sipping our Starbucks and planning our next vacation and worrying about clothing, food, shelter, and what we will do for retirement--

That we forget that what we do here matters, really matters.

I signed a petition the other day. 

I signed a petition, but I had already stopped supporting Target some months before, after it had taken an activist stance supporting LGBT marriage. 

I don't like Wal-Mart; I never really have -- but I have been shopping there for awhile now. 

Because my conscience was pricked -- and I could no longer in good conscience push those sleek red carts at Target and hope for a sale on over-priced clothing. 

My conscience was pricked -- as much as I am able I try not to support businesses that openly push an agenda that brazenly and pompously flies in the face of God's express commands. 

Christ's sacrifice  was too costly -- and I cheapen grace when I make light of His Word by supporting those who do--

And I realize that it is impossible to remove our financial support from every secular institution that runs in some or in many ways, contrary to the Word of God -- we cannot live in a bubble and there are times when we buy meat in the temple. 

But for me, as much as I am able, I would rather support businesses and individuals who align themselves more closely with value systems that are not death-producing. 

I realize that this is not possible in every circumstance -- but we have to humble ourselves before God and before our fellow Christians and ask ourselves as individuals and as the Bride of Christ, purchased with His blood -- Are my actions/decisions pointing people towards Christ and His truth, or away from Him? 

We do not need to be afraid of transgender individuals -- people just like us -- in sin just as we were before Christ,  who desperately need Him and we hold the Word of Life -- Who will bring it to them? 

We do not need to fear "giants" like Target, who try to push and push and push their liberal agenda until it suffocates and kills us--

But I have to ask--where are the Davids who will stand and hurl the stone of the Word of God at its ugly, leering, menacing head?

And I didn't decide to stop shopping at Target because I'm afraid of a transgender individual molesting my child -- I will be honest (although I understand that there are legitimate concerns about a child's safety in these new and unusual situations in our "brave new world").

What I fear more than these things is Christians who make light of supporting or not supporting businesses who are taking an activist stance regarding issues that are black and white--

What I'm concerned about is Christian modesty blogs continuing to advertise for companies like these who are openly paving the way for Christian persecution and encouraging others to buy their clothing and accessories. We have to be honest with ourselves: Do we love money or the Word of God? 

What I'm concerned about is our witness to our weaker brothers and sisters in the Lord who, by observing our support of businesses that are taking an open, activist stance against the principles in the Word of God, may think that we agree with them and may think that what they are doing is at best "not a big deal," and at worst, OK. 

For a long time now, and we are all guilty of this as believers, we have at first shyly and then increasingly brazenly lived as if nothing really matters outside of the express commands of God--

But things like this matter -- and the world is watching. 

Because there is a point when a store crossed over from its usual secular agenda to an activist one -- when it is brazenly taking a stand against the basic principles of God's Word--

And it is not the transgender individual that we need to be afraid of -- it is our own complacency. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer says--

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

Sometimes we need to just step back and look at the dirt. We need to remember Who made us. We need to remember where we came from -- We need to press His truth and His Word and His principles to our hearts and ask ourselves whether we love Him enough to stand -- or whether we are clutching the concrete of this world. 

There is evil enough in this world to stand against. 

So stand. 

We need to stop wavering between two opinions -- the world doesn't need wishy-washy Christians -- it needs the Truth -- spoken in love, lived in love-

So stand. 

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