Skip to Content

Why I’m Not A Boycotting Christian

Sharing is caring!

Why I’m Not A Boycotting Christian isn’t being written to burn the ears of the boycotters or to tickle the ears of the Christians who don’t boycott. I want to share my reasons for not boycotting with you. I don’t have a soapbox, heck I probably don’t even have soap right now so don’t get all excited or start pulling out your pitchforks.

I'M NOT A BOYCOTTING CHRISTIAN

Why I’m Not A Boycotting Christian:

I spend a reasonable amount of time online, and anytime something new read scary, happens, I see a flurry of activity on every side of an issue. Some people choose to boycott, but I don’t find that helpful.

While I may not agree with everything a company, our government, or my friends and acquaintances say or do, I don’t feel the need to vow publicly never to support them.

Why? I don’t just see a company. I see people. There are people behind every commercial, every sign, every catalog. Real people. Hurting people. You may not know anyone that works at Target, or Disney, or Mattel or any of the other companies you boycott, but I promise you there are people there. There are probably even other Christians there.

I like shopping at Target, and buying from Target doesn’t change the fact that our entire world is full of evil and corruption. If anything I feel like by boycotting a company I’m adding to the constant negativity in this world. That’s not to say I don’t stand up for what I believe in even if people don’t like it, but boycotting doesn’t seem worth the effort.

The truth is boycotting doesn’t do much.

Well, other than make Christians look like people who are never happy and always looking for a fight. I’m not saying that’s how I see you, but if the world sees as many Christian articles as I do, they see people who are continually complaining about how bad companies, our government, and society are and not much else. That’s not to say there aren’t Christians doing amazing things, beautiful God-honoring things, but they don’t get nearly as much attention.

Go Into All The World

I want to be a light to the world. I want to go into the world to share the good news, not bad news. I want to do what God wants me to do because I have prayed and feel the Holy Spirit leading me. To this day, I have never been directed to boycott.

If you think transgender people using the bathroom is terrible, how do you feel about sweatshops? Sure you can’t boycott them all, but how do you decide? How do you boycott Target without also boycotting GAP, Old Navy, and the Banana Republic?

Surprise The World

See this is where it gets muddy. I think we boycott when we are angry, and I do get mad about issues and things that need to be changed, but I want to find a way to use that anger to produce positive change. I want to think about the people behind the bullseye. The teen moms, the single parents, the elderly, all the people who work for the company. Will I attack them for working there? No, of course not, but I will make sure that Target doesn’t get a dime from me. I don’t see who that helps. It’s not like you can buy everything from a Christian big box store so how do you choose and even if you could what does that say? That you only support people who are like you? Who believes what you believe, and do what you think is right?

Not only that but how in the world can you witness when you shun sinful people like the plague, which btw have you looked inside your church? Like REALLY looked? If I’m there, I can promise you there is a sinful person in the house. Let’s face it; we are a world of sinners, but somehow we keep believing that we are better because we are saved and we do believe we need to witness, but the verse about being in the world but not of it keeps throwing us off.

Look, Jesus ate with SINNERS, walked with SINNERS, talked with SINNERS, loved SINNERS, and did everything with SINNERS, and I’m not talking about the prostitute. I’m talking about the 12 disciples and his parents. None of them were saved until Jesus died on the cross. We often think that because they followed him, they aren’t included in the list of things Jesus did with sinners, but they were not paid for until Jesus died for them.

Love God

Satan is indeed a crafty one. He uses our salvation and relationship with God to fuel our sin nature. He confuses us, and in our pride, we believe we are honoring God with our anger and our soapboxes. We are prideful, and we believe we are right. Think about the times Jesus was harsh with people or angry. Every single case I can recount (calling people vipers and flipping tables in the temple) in the Bible of Jesus’ anger was roused by people who claimed to be religious. He didn’t fight with those who didn’t believe or move away from them; he walked towards them.

The truth is I don’t know if you should boycott because I’m not the Holy Spirit living within you, I know why I don’t.

Grace

People are changed by love, not anger or hate.

Why did you fall in love with Jesus? Was it because he was angry with you over your sin? Was it because he loved you in spite of your weak and feeble heart and DIED for you. I mean, think about that. You were exactly like the owners of Target, and Jesus laid down his life for you. He didn’t boycott you.

Answer that honestly. Do you believe anger and outrage move people, or is it, love?

So that’s me. That’s why I don’t boycott. Again, if you boycott that is totally up to you, I don’t know what God has spoken to your heart, I know that he hasn’t expressed it to mine. If that bothers you, please pray for me and remember that there is nothing new happening. There is no original sin, and there is nothing that is happening today that God doesn’t already know about. He is in control!

Sharing is caring!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Alex Solis

Wednesday 15th of May 2019

Movie comment. People shouldn't see the bad stuff in society, corporations, governments, or anything else! I love Disney, and I'm Christian! Not everyone at Disney share the same ideas, just like the people at the government don't have the same ideas. Many people in them can be Christian and yet are still boycotted by other Christians, or "Christians"!

Rachel

Wednesday 27th of April 2016

Personally, I'm not a big fan of big box retailers. Not because their view on public bathrooms differs from mine, but I really like supporting local small businesses. I like shopping fair trade or the Family Christian store too, but sometimes when I need to grab a gallon of milk or a pack of razors; I'll go to Target. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about being in the world, but not of the world including 1 John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in us and then he who is in the world." It can be so hard as Christians to want to lash out in anger and hate when the world does agrees with us, call us names (ignorant, close-minded) and boycotts our state, but the Bible is clear on hate. 1 John 3:11-13, "For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother...Do not be surprised my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." So, I guess what I am trying to say is that I agree with you. God is calling us to love. Stand firm in your beliefs, don't waiver, but above all --love. #BeAbovetheHate #BetheLove

JD - altamontefamily.com

Wednesday 27th of April 2016

Amen.

Sarah Coggins

Tuesday 26th of April 2016

Well said! I personally find the whole boycotting thing amusing. I'm not quite sure what people hope to accomplish or if they are just jumping on the current "thing to do." I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe He died for our sins. When I hear all the anger and hate, I'm reminded of His commandment to love thy neighbor. How quickly it's forgotten when others are "different."

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.