To Boycott or Not to Boycott?  – June 2, 2023

I’ve been shopping at Target since I first could drive.  Kelly has been using Kohl’s Cash since the program first started.  Now stepping in either store makes us a bit uncomfortable.  We aren’t alone. Target has lost mega dollars in recent weeks and that’s why I’m writing. Boycotts aren’t new.  There was a boycott of the meat markets in both Corinth and Rome by Christians of strong conviction In the Apostle Paul’s day.  Of course, not all Christians shared that conviction and the strongly convicted tended to judge them.  The ones who thought the boycotters (vegans) were being silly tended to hold said abstainers in contempt.  Thus there was division in the church circa 65 AD.  

In 2023 AD, as the ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) movement gains more influence over investors, we may see more and more companies throw off all moral restraint.   I don’t pretend to know what to do about where to shop and where to buy, but praise God I do know how we are to behave toward each other.  Consider this application of Romans 14:1-4:

Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions.  One person has faith that he may shop anywhere, but he who is weak boycotts.   The one who shops anywhere is not to regard with contempt the one who boycotts, and the one who boycotts is not to judge the one who shops, for God has accepted him.  Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Application of Romans 14:1-4

I don’t know what this will come to, but I do remember a time when some Christians weren’t wearing Levi’s (I don’t even remember why) and other Christians couldn’t afford not to wear the pants already in their closet.  The last thing we should be doing is humiliating each other because of some corporation’s decision!    Always choose grace! 

Yours, together with Him,

Pastor Scott

Compare:   14 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:1-4 (NASB 1995)