The ole’ product table wars have come into the spotlight once again. (The fact SG can’t seem to come up with any new things to argue about is actually a fascinating topic that deserves attention all its own. Maybe next time.)

Gospel Commentator has just weighed in on this topic, claiming Tony Gore has lost his dignity, and worse yet, may be sending people to hell because of what he has on his product table. Oh my. Where to start.

How about here. I think most flavors of Christianity that make up the SG world do not believe that we look around, deduce there must be a God, decide that the Bible is historically accurate enough to take at face value, and based on the evidence; settle on Jesus as a Savior. No, we believe that the only way we come to know Christ is when the Holy Spirit actively seeks us out. This is crucially important. If you hold that Tony Gore's product table keeps someone from hearing the Gospel, you’re not saying “Tony kept people from the Freemans’ set”. You’re saying that those blinky-light roses proved to be too distracting for the Creator of the universe to overcome. Blinky-light roses won’t defeat the Gospel. Claiming it will is merely pious posturing worthy of any Pharisee.

Next, the comment about giving up full time singing if you’re not making enough to pay the bills. I wonder if Peter ever told Paul “I love ya brother, but I’ve been seeing you making and selling tents in the evenings. If you can’t make a living at this Jesus stuff, maybe you should just start planting churches part-time. You’re starting to embarrass the other disciples.”?

There also seems to be an unspoken nod amongst SG fans that we think SG artist should make enough to live on, but that’s it. If they can make a small rent payment and buy enough beans, they should be happy. You can bet your bottom dollar that the same logic sure as heck doesn’t apply when fans consider their own lot in life, buddy. We want to give our wives and kids the best we can, we want to have a house large enough to be comfortable in, we want to be able to hit a decent restaurant every once in awhile, health insurance would be nice, maybe even go to Disneyworld next summer. But for our SG artists, well, as long as they’re making enough not to die, why are they complaining?

And finally, the “What if” argument is used so frequently, apparently people think it’s a compelling contention. “What if someone misses hearing about the Gospel because they’re distracted by those confounded blinky-light roses?” These “What if” lines of reason are just a person’s way of saying “Ha! I’m so smart I’ve thought of a circumstance that you never considered, and which renders your actions/thoughts completely wrong!” Tossing out a “What if” argument in SG is like playing the race card in politics; an attempt to play on emotion when you can’t argue reality. The problem is you make up whatever “What if” suits your fancy. If Tony Gore had a blog, he could legitimately respond “Well, what if the Holy Spirit isn’t calling a person during the Freemans set, but He does next month while the person is driving their car and listening to my rubber-band special CD, and they become convicted and saved?” That’s easily just as legitimate as any other “What if” one may concoct to disparage his methods.

Wow. I never write this much. I’m gonna stop now.