For example, yesterday I preached on the Lordship of Christ from Philippians 2:9-11 and I opened my sermon with a struggle that I had in high school, and still have today. That struggle, in its essence, is the desire to put forth a certain image by the wearing of, or using, certain name brands. The point of my introduction (and therefore sermon) was not to slam materialism, or to tell people I struggle with being an image bearer of something other than God (see Gen. 1:26-27), though these things are true. The point of the introduction and the sermon was to highlight how easily the things of this world (name brands, companies, stuff) becomes the Lord of our lives rather than the true Lord, Jesus Christ.
Really, this introduction about my introduction is just my segway into the real topic I wanted to write about and that is these two labels or brand names below
and I was reminded of the importance of these labels today as I was reading my daily Bible reading. Deuteronomy 24:14 says "Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don't, they might cry out to the Lord against you, and it would be counted against you as sin."
Later 25:13-16 says "you must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, and you must use full and honest measures. Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the Lord your God."
Powerful words for our world today! A world and economy ruled by multinational corporations and bottom-line tactics that hurt many of those whose backs make those companies their profits. I won't pretend to assume I know much about economics, I'll leave that to one of my dear friends from college who is going to be an awesome Econ. professor some day.
But what I do know is this, we can honor God with our purchasing power and we can speak volumes with our wallets. So before you shop at Walmart or go for the cheapest item at the grocery store, stop and think about where that item might be coming from, who made it and what it was made with. I also don't pretend to do this perfectly, but I know it is something that is very important and something worth continually pursuing because it is honoring to God and His children around the world.
Though this may be impossible in our world today, I hope and pray I will not be a person whose actions cause someone else to "cry out to the Lord" because of my unfair and unloving and unGodly actions, purchases and decisions.
Lord have mercy.
Christ have mercy.
Lord have mercy.
