What Would Jesus Sell…

Not that long ago, a huge trend swept across this country that both fascinated AND disturbed me. The trend caught on so big, that people were able to piggy-back their products on it so that they could sell more than usual. The trend hit big books stores to local pawn shops and was covered in the news. The trend? WWJD - What Would Jesus Do. One simple bracelet with those 4 letters lit the Christian market on fire. It was really quite amazing to see how this simple, yet poignant phrase took off.

It was also disturbing.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m all in favor of reminding oneself of what Jesus would do in a given situation. Although, I always thought it funny that I’d get cut-off in traffic by someone with a “Jesus fish” on the back of their car - but that’s for another post. To be fair, the WWJD trend started innocently enough, with sincere Christians desiring a visible reminder of what their faith should really mean to them. That part isn’t disturbing - it’s what followed that really chaps my hide.

In the following months, something began to happen. What started as an innocent enough reminder of faith turned into a multi-million dollar marketing campaign. Now, instead of WWJD being limited to bracelets, it was spreading to T-shirts, baseball caps and other clothing. Tattoo parlors had added WWJD as one of their new tats (accompanied by a killer tribal, no doubt). Tired of your old Bible? Well, for just $24.95, you could get your specially branded WWJD Bible. Act now, and we’ll throw in this WWJD T-Shirt, WWJD hat and WWJD bracelet at no charge. I think, but may be wrong, that there was even a WWJD compilation CD put together with some of the rising names in Christian music! In no time flat, what was once an expression of faith turned into a money-making machine. And somewhere along the way, the heart of the message was lost in the cha-ching of the cash registers.

The sad thing is, it’s not the first time and it’s not going to be the last. As a matter of fact, if you walk into any Christian bookstore right now, there’s a really good chance you’ll be able to pick out the next trend very quickly. More than likely, it will be featured on end-caps or upright displays. Posters will be hanging from the ceilings. Window clings will announce the special deals and new products tied to this trend. And, as sure as one-legged duck swims in a circle, Christians will buy it all up, never once examining the fact that their faith is being exploited for financial gain.

It makes you wonder - if Jesus was physically here today, WWJS…

This entry was posted on August 4, 2007 at 9:45 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.