Over the next few days I have the exquisite opportunity to attend the International Christian Retail Show put on by CBA. For those who don’t know what it is, and I assume that a vast number of readers here at Drive Through Rain do not, this is the end all be all for anything you can find in any Christian bookstore, anywhere. So whether its Bible commentaries or TestaMints, Left Behind video games or Veggietales, you can find it all here. Everyone is peddling their crafti-work, and (supposedly) all in the name of Jesus.
Upon arrival to the World Congress Center, I see out on the vast landscape of Christian retail, and the floorspace alone is at least 4 football fields. Lets just say, its vast. So the company I work for has a booth, and I head that direction. I’m pretty dead set on finding them, so I am not taking in any initial impressions. Although I wasn’t browsing to start, it was hard to miss this on my way in:
Giant Larry Boy
Well, I got to my company’s table and proceeded to wander my way through the giant maze of Christian sub-culture fuel. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to start. The first half of my walk was through Christian book-publishers. I mean, there were probably a lot of books with questionable content or books that in no way further the Kingdom, but all in all, there seems to be some excellent resources out there.
My next experience was with the Christian junk sellers (i.e. everything besides books). My first real exposure to this was in college. I was never a man of faith until then, and had never really seen people sell much spiritual stuff other than the candles at the supermarket, usually in the Spanish foods section. When I was at Washington University, it was the year the Pope came to America and he came to St. Louis. We went to go see him, and you could find any Pope related item, from Pope-on-a-rope for all your baptismal cleaning needs and Pope-sicles, to satisfy your sacrament sweet tooth. Lets just say, this place topped them all. Some items I can understand people wanting and having a need for, but some things, I just don’t get. There was a booth for sunglasses…. seriously… Jesus sunglasses. What made them Christian? Don’t really know. Seems like people are ok with using Jesus as a marketing tool to sell stuff. Same with folks who put the Jesus fish on their business trucks. Is it truly biblical to never interact with non-Christians and only do any kind of business with supposed Christian-based companies? Does that guarantee you will never get ripped off? Unlikely. There was also a contraption to help you memorize scripture by projecting words on your windshield while driving. So, next time you see someone with a Jesus-fish on their car driving badly, don’t get mad… they may just be memorizing Scripture.
I will post for you three interesting finds for the day.
- Christian Board Games. One company apparently makes Christian versions of all the board games out there. As if Scatagories really causes me to be tempted by the devil. They have everything from Apples to Apples the Bible Version to this:
Guess you gotta make sure not to say words on your card, like “atonement, sacrifice, perserverance of the saints.” - Bronze Jesus. This lifesized bronzed Jesus warrior statue confronted me amidst my casual stroll. I was thinking of buying it and putting it by my front door to remind me what a merciful Savior I have.
- The Jesus Statues. I have once before posted on ridiculous Jesus figurines, but these will take the cake. See Jesus in commonplace situations, like riding a bull, driving a harley, or falling off a cliff, to help remind you the price that was paid for your sins. Get yours today from WeAreFishermen.com
