If you like this post, you can read the rest of my Distractions!
At some point, I will probably come to grips with the reality that I live in a society that is completely absorbed in sound bites, buzz words catch phrases and useless slogans.
Until then, let me tell you why they’re stupid.
They don’t mean anything:
When I was in business school, I took an entire class that was made up of me learning incredibly useless mottoes that I highly doubt anyone actually uses in practical ways, like Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) or “Think Outside The Box”.
What does that even mean, anyway?
Why don’t you just tell me that creativity is important?
What if the idea I need is inside the box?
What if everyone is thinking outside the box, does that mean that thinking inside the box becomes the new thinking outside the box? Stupid.
They take out all critical thinking:
I took another class, this one on marketing, where we learned of great concepts like the “Got Milk?” marketing campaigns.
It was incredibly effective for a long, long time, but it didn’t really tell you anything about why milk was so great for you.
Is getting the word or image of milk all that it takes to get us to buy milk?
Why don’t we demand more information in the information age?
They aren’t Biblical:
This is the one that gets me and it is especially prevalent now with social media, where sayings get tossed about without any thought as to if they are true. Things like:
- Follow your heart!
- You have to learn to love yourself before you can love anyone else!
- Be the change!
- Preach always. If necessary, use words!
Nevermind that “”The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV)
Nevermind that Jesus reminded us of the command to “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 39) without the qualification of having to love yourself, because we already love ourselves!
Nevermind that it was a Hindu, Mahatma Gandhi, who said “Be the change you want to see in the world” and that Jesus only indicated that our witness would make us the “light of the world” and to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”, meaning that God gets the credit, not us.
Nevermind that St. Francis of Assisi never would have said that as some think or that Paul in Romans 10:14 said “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” and again in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Did that sound like a bit of a rant?
That’s fine.
I ranted because I care.
I care about having Biblical thought.
I care because I want us all to live by the Truth in God’s Word and I want us to be able to correct each other if we say something stupid or meaningless without getting defensive or without thinking that we’re a bunch of trolls.
We have the Word of God and we can do better than useless slogans.
Are there any meaningless catch phrases that you could do without?
