I saw an ad in Sunday's paper for this nail polish, "Sinful Colors." This bothered me for two reasons.
First, if there is a verse in the Bible that addresses what colors are sinful, I missed it! At a women's retreat I shared how I was once told a pair of shoes I owned were sinful. Oh, not in those exact words, but the implication was that they were not appropriate shoes for a Christian. Shoes?!? Yes, we should be modest in our dress (1 Tim 2:9), but if Jesus wore sandals (and he did according to John the Baptist who said, "I am not worthy to tie Jesus' sandals,") then it must be okay to show some toe. When we begin to judge what colors and shoes are biblically appropriate we are becoming like the pharisees in Jesus day. Jesus said, "What sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden." We need to stop crushing people with our religious demands.
But there is a second reason this ad bothers me. It says that someone is a marketing department somewhere said, "People want sin! Let's sell them sinful colors!" And the group of people in that room said, "Yes!" And the devil said, "YES!" How quickly we buy into sin. It's not enough that we buy into literal sin with our actions, but now we buy into it figuratively by purchasing "Sinful Colors" nail polish. We purchase perfumes with names like, "Guilty," (Gucci) and "Unforgivable Woman." (Sean John)
Don't get me wrong. I don't believe buying these items are sinful. Jesus said we focus too much on the outside when the inside is what is important. I just think it's terribly sad that sin sells. I'm not buying it. Are you?
But there is a second reason this ad bothers me. It says that someone is a marketing department somewhere said, "People want sin! Let's sell them sinful colors!" And the group of people in that room said, "Yes!" And the devil said, "YES!" How quickly we buy into sin. It's not enough that we buy into literal sin with our actions, but now we buy into it figuratively by purchasing "Sinful Colors" nail polish. We purchase perfumes with names like, "Guilty," (Gucci) and "Unforgivable Woman." (Sean John)
Don't get me wrong. I don't believe buying these items are sinful. Jesus said we focus too much on the outside when the inside is what is important. I just think it's terribly sad that sin sells. I'm not buying it. Are you?
Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com
6 comments:
Amen! Wonderful wonderful post! It just drives me crazy sometimes, the advertising that is out. Or when people judge. I better stop or I will get on my soapbox and it will be awhile...lolol. Thanks for the post!
until next time... nel
http://nelfast.blogspot.com
Good thought-provoking post! I think you're right. People want to sin -- or at least "think" they're sinning. If they wear "sinful colors," they're being "bad" but not REALLY bad. But I think what should be considered is WHY we want to be bad.
I often boycott products because of their name or advertising. Whether or not it makes a difference I don't know. But I know that my kids are growing up (or have grown up) in a household that doesn't have some things, and they know why. I recently threw out some buttons that had entered our house somehow (likely in a yard-sale box of odds and ends sewing stuff), but that my 11 year-old claimed because they were "cool". Closer examination by my 16 year old led to the realization that they were a circle of zodiac signs. My 11 year old was disappointed (he didn't know what zodiac signs were - he'd never seen them to recognize them) but respectful of my decision. I am heartened to note that when I don't pay enough attention, my kids know and are willing to point it out. Thank you God.
You get at a very good point here, namely that sin seems to be "winked at" so much in our culture. Whether it's in the names of products we buy or in the movies & TV shows we watched, the "naughty" things seemed to be glorified. Just because we make something humorous, does that make it less sinful? Definitely not. The struggle I have the most is the fact that I'm certain some of this is getting in, and I don't even realize it's happening because it's so integrated in so many things. Lord, help me!
What breaks my heart and saddens me so deeply is that sin is so damn (yes, damn!) destructive. It reaches into the future and steals. It can be confronted and forgiven and healed, but oh it's wake is wide. There is nothing cute about sin -- I tend to forget that. Thanks for the reminder.
its nail polish.... how stupid
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