Left behind with Jabez, dogs, and frogs in a purpose-driven shack Part 1

 

Christians have fads. A lot of us tend to criticize fads of the world, but Christians have them also. I worked in a Christian bookstore for 5 years, and I saw fads come and go.

 First there was the WWJD? fad. When it fizzled out, there was the FROG fad (fully rely on God). It was followed by DOG(Depend on God). Each came with bracelets and all other kinds of merchandise for people to buy. The bookstores overflowed with dogs and frogs going along with the themes.

 Is there anything wrong with WWJD? Anything wrong with wearing things that say it? Not necessarily. If we really mean it. It is an entirely different thing to live what would Jesus do, and another to wear a bracelet and feel good.

 And therein may lie part of the problem. Feeling good. Wearing a WWJD? bracelet makes people feel good, but how many people that actually wore them, really carried through and practiced it? Living what would Jesus do changes things. A lot. If it doesn't affect a person, then they may as well throw the bracelet in the trash, for too many of us live as "I" would do, not as how Jesus would do.

 It doesn't stop with clever Christian slogans and sayings. I don't know how many books have been a fad, or what book was the first one, but one of the biggest that came along when I was working at the bookstore was The Prayer of Jabez. A short, small book became a best seller that we couldn't keep on the shelf. If a person walked up to me and asked "do you have the book....", 9 times out of 10 it was that one, except for the mixed up lady who asked for the Prayer of Jezebel. True story :-)

  Soon the prayer was being marketed on everything but toilet paper, and people were raving about how it changed their lives. Someone even wrote a novel about Jabez. A novel about a man who is mentioned in one verse in the Bible. A lady came in and was insistent the reason she had been put in charge of her church's Christmas cantata was because she had prayed this prayer.

  I was a skeptic from the start, and only read the book because I got one free. I remained skeptical. How miraculous that this sudden magical formula was discovered after all of these years by one man.

 The fad soon fizzled out and I was seeing the book at only a dollar stores, and as cheap as 10 cents on Christianbook.com. If it was that great of a book, what happened to it? Why aren't people still talking about it?

 Because it was a fad. It was a "me" prayer that made people feel good. And as with anything like it, it doesn't last.

 It was followed by a couple of other books by the same author that the Christian retail market tried to fan into fads, but they didn't go nearly as big as Jabez did.

  I'd like to think I am above fads, but I'm not. I got caught up in one. The Left Behind craze. I read the first book and thought it was really good. Then there was a sequel. Cool. And another, and another.......

  Soon there were 12 books, prequels to the series, off-shoots of the series, a kids series, movies....... and of course Christian merchandise to accompany it. The further I read in the series, the more ludicrous I found it, and the more I got tired of it. I only finished the series because I was curious as to how it would end. Upon finishing the 12th book, I immediately sold the books.

 Now it is entirely possible the books changed some lives, but it pretty much became entertainment. When you have Hollywood making a movie about what should be a sobering event: Jesus' return, you have entertainment. And I have read they are making another one due out this coming year that will have top rated actors like Nicholas Cage. Hopefully the fad doesn't come back.

 And along came another fad. This one supposedly "purpose-driven"