Get Your "Look Out! I'm a Godbag!" Button Today!

If I were Satan and trying to think up the best possible way to help people reject Christianity, I think I’d con Christians into thinking that labeling themselves with a cheesy button was a better and more effective way to show the love of Christ than, you know, actually getting involved in people’s lives and serving them. But wait! Satan doesn’t have to come up with that plan. The American Family Association has already done it!

The AFA is starting its annual Easter “You’re a bad Christian if you don’t buy this garbage” fundraiser and it’s every bit as annoying as it was last year.[**]

The time for you to sponsor your church’s participation in “Silent Witness Week” during Holy Week, March 16-23, is running out!

Place your order today to insure delivery in time for Easter. Order enough buttons to give one to each member of your church and enough magnets to give one to each family. The button and magnets allow each member to share the good news about Easter with everyone they meet, silently reminding them of God’s promise of eternal life.

The thought provoking and absolutely beautiful button and magnet will trumpet the good news of our Savior’s resurrection.

Urge your fellow members to wear their button and display the magnet during Holy Week. If you are unable to sponsor your church alone, get your Sunday School class to sponsor your church. You can even order buttons and magnets to share with co-workers, children in Christian schools, customers, etc.

This sure does bring to mind that classic Catholic worship song we sang during folk Mass back when I was a kid, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our buttons, by our buttons, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our buttons!”

Yet another reason that I don’t like the American Family Association (AFA)… A long time ago, I signed up for their mailing list because I am generally sympathetic to their goals. About their methods, on the other hand, I generally feel anywhere between complete exasperation and a tired disgust.

The AFA is selling “Silent Witness” buttons for people to wear during Easter week. The image is of three crosses, and the text is “EASTER” and “HE LIVES!” along with the AFA url.

I searched for companies that make similar buttons – full color, 1.75″ in diameter – to see what these things cost to make and found this handy online pricing calculator.

The calculator limits the pricing search to 9,999, and I rather suspect that the AFA ordered more than 10,000 of these, unless I’m grossly underestimating the AFA’s following. That particular company will make 9,999 of these buttons for 18 cents apiece.

Well, the AFA is entitled to try to make a profit. I just think it’s worth pointing out. This is a fundraiser and ought to be labeled accordingly.

Moving on to the point of the buttons – to be a “silent witness” for Jesus and his resurrection. First, I’m not aware of any bible verse that instructs us to be a “silent witness.” To the contrary, there are quite a lot of action words in Jesus’ instructions to his disciples.

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
(Matthew 10:5-8)

Second, let’s imagine that you choose to wear this button to work. If that is the first time your colleagues become aware that you are a Christian, then something is already very, very wrong. They should already know based on your behavior and from their relationship with you. If they know that you’re a Christian, they don’t need the reminder, and this is an ineffectual way to witness to them anyway.

Christians you encounter might smile and nod approvingly, perhaps wishing they were so bold as to wear a button with an Easter message on it, but non-Christians – unless they are the type of person who’s just looking to pick a fight – will avoid you when you wear this button. Look at it from their perspective. They already (wrongly) think they’re going to have to give up all kinds of fun and freedom in order to be a Christian. Now they’re going to have to wear a cheesy button, too. That’s enticing, all right. They’re afraid that if they become Christians they’ll have to wear a “Look out! I’m a Godbag!” button.

I know that there are arguments that can be made in favor of this kind of marketing gambit, but I’m not buying.

Want to be an effective witness? Read the bible and do what it says.

Added: Henry Neufeld kindly links back and notes: “When you take on the name “Christian” or “follower of Jesus” or however you want to say it, you don’t merely have the option of witness. You are a witness.” That’s very well put, and a very sobering thought.

** This is a repost – I send this out every year when I get the email inviting me to buy some of these buttons to “witness.”  Originally posted 3/15/2007 not too long after “godbag” spewer Amanda Marcotte resigned from John Edward’s campaign, slightly edited here.