New Commandment Men’s Ministries BlogWhy I Frequent Pagan Businesses that Support Causes I Disagree With
Christians boycott businesses whose values conflict with their convictions. This post explains why the author chooses differently, appealing to Paul’s teaching about unbelievers, liberty of conscience among Christians, and persuasion rather than coercion. Contact, it argues, can create opportunities to demonstrate and discuss Christ’s love with people outside the church.
Read the full post: Why I Frequent Pagan Businesses that Support Causes I Disagree With
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
Want to Learn More?
New Commandment Men’s Ministries helps churches organize teams of men who adopt widows, single moms, and others with long-term pressing needs. All training materials and videos are free. Get the Free Training
3 thoughts on “Why I Frequent Pagan Businesses that Support Causes I Disagree With”
Sorry Herb, I appreciate most of what you have to say, but I guess I’ll be that annoying guy that only comments when something irks me.
Perhaps your Home Depot friend didn’t handle it in a mature way, but that doesn’t mean his point is not valid. You’re disregarding his conviction. In fact, your 2nd point seems to nullify all discussion about any personal conviction. Christians are supposed to sharpen and spur each other on. Much of that is impossible as soon as someone starts throwing the “personal conviction” flag. Heck, you’ve built an entire ministry on your conviction to help widows and single parents. By the logic in this post I should just say “Dude, read Rom 14:5-6 and stop pushing your widow conviction on the rest of us.”
Also, 1 Cor 5 is talking about association, not financial support. Of the $5 you spend at Starbucks a small portion is going to Planned Parenthood, HRC etc. Your trying to justify that with a verse about church discipline.
Finally, the interaction you had with the barista was great, but just as well could’ve happened at a different coffee shop across the street. Your logic also means that you should be spending money at strip clubs because “Hey, strippers might ask what I do for a living.”
Again, I love what you do and I’ll try to leave more positive comments in the future, but today was swing and miss.
Thank you for your comment, Travis.
Just to be clear, ministry to widows and single parents is not simply my personal conviction, but the explicit and pervasive teaching of the Word of God (James 1:27; 1 Timothy 5:3-16; Acts 6;1-6; John 19:25-27; Job 29:11-13; 31:16-22; Exodus 22:22-24; Deuteronomy 14:29; 24:17, 19; 26:12; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 7:6; 22:3)
And now you’re opening up a healthy dialog about command vs. conviction. This is a huge part of Christian fellowship. Your original post tries to invalidate these conversations. Fruitful dialog is near impossible once someone sticks their fingers in their ears and says “Not listening to your CONVICTIONS.” I’ve known a number of people that used Rom 14 to justify questionable patterns and ended up on a path that ruined their lives.
For the record, I know most of the passages you referenced in your comment and agree it probably falls near the command side of the spectrum.
But now it seems you’re opening up to conversation about scripture, so check out Matt 21:12-13 and consider how Jesus handled pagan businesses that support causes he disagreed with.