About a decade ago I watched a PBS Documentary, The Merchants of Cool. It basically outlined how teenagers are manipulated into buying things based on what they are told is cool/in/trendy/or whatever. It made teens look like lifeless puppets whose strings were being pulled by marketers. It angered me. I loved teens, still do, and it frustrated me so much to see them have an idea of “cool” spoon-fed to them and be used for their money, or their mom and dad’s money as is so many times the case.  It also made me mourn for my own lost youth, chasing cool. In our home we use phrases like “don’t drink the kool-aid” meaning, don’t just buy what culture is selling. Not with your money and not with your emotions. We are who we are because of WHO made us and redeemed us (Eph 2:10). We are not our clothes, not our music, not our lunch table, not how fast we are or how far we can throw, etc. As far as I am concerned, if a person doesn’t “fit in” that is a good thing. It probably means you had an independent thought. Or better yet, a SPIRIT-LED thought.

Yesterday I had some of those same feelings I had after watching Merchants of Cool when I read a post outlining the current manipulation of American men. Don’t buy the lie, men. Don’t conform (Romans 12:1-2). Nothing you click on will make your life meaningful. As Augustine said, “Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” Please read this very sobering post, FANDUEL, DRAFT KINGS, AND THE FACE OF AMERICAN SELF-LOATHING.