On Being Missional... Buy Local.
Our little town is going through quite the retail outlet and restaurant boom. We have large shopping complexes going up right and left. They are full of chain stores like Target, Old Navy, Lifeway, and Books-a-Million. There are chain restaurants either already in or on the way. We are even getting our very first Starbucks. Evette is very excited about that. She loves kool-aid coffee in cups who's sizes have cool nonstandard names.
But I am a little worried by all of this. What will all of this do to a town that has always had thriving Mom and Pops and quaint little coffee shops and restaurants?Wal Mart has already done a number here. Most folks are excited we are growing. They are glad that we'll have all these new places to go and spend our money. And I will admit, I will enjoy having more choices.
But I think a very practical, missional thing we can all do is to continue our support of local business. We do more shopping at Wal Mart than I would like, but we do try to frequent a local grocery chain all we can. Likewise, we've not had a Starbucks before and do not need one now. So I won't be feeding their corporate machine and hope to talk Evette out of it. She has a favorite coffee shop in town and I don't think she'll forsake it for the siren's call. Oh, and we'll still buy books at our local store and stay away from Lifeway. Lifeway creeps me out anyway with their books about people going to heaven and hell and coming back.
So, I propose that if you want to do something very simple for your community in your everyday life, go out to the old local shops as much as you can. Support them, get to know them. Tell them how much you appreciate what they add to your community. Encourage others to meet in these places.You can go to those other places, I know I will go to many of them myself, but don't be to wowed by their cool logos and all the hype to the point you forget the little guy. The folks who put those businesses there did it for money. Most if not all of your local businesses do it for more than that.
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