Cliché Driven Society

If you've lived in the United States these last ten years or so, you are being bombarded with messages every day, in an ever-increasing deluge. We are constantly being told what to think and how to think from an array of disparate sources. Discernment is on the decline, but style is definitely in. The one who delivers the most clever sound bite, or loudest catch phrase is the truth for today. You've heard these sayings probably a thousand times:

• I feel you.
• Whatever!
• Support our troops.
• Protect our environment.
• Make love, not war.
• Give peace a chance.
• Do something good. Feel something real.
• Save the whales.
• Bring our troops home.
• All religions teach love.
• Separation of church and state.
• Equal rights.
• Stop racism.
• Don't drink and drive.
• Stay in school.
• Don't take drugs.
• Keeping it real.

Of course I've left out a whole lot, because there are too many. (If you want to leave a comment about some other catch phrases and sound bites I missed, please do so.) These phrases have become cliché. They are so familiar that they don't require much thinking to interpret. In fact, they are designed to direct our thinking towards whatever political or social slants that they advocate.

But what about the Christian? Are we no different than the rest of society? Sadly, often we are not. We may even repeat, and are trained by, cliché's more than the words of Christ. But what did Christ say,

"I know my sheep and my sheep know me. They..will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

The good news: Only One Voice Required.