A few days ago, I heard on the radio that a Priest of the Church of England had sought advice from a marketing expert to get ideas to attract a greater audience since in Britain, more people go to shop on a Sunday than attend service. The radio host had used the term “trying to sell God” in reference to this and this was quite alarming to myself. It’s a dismal state we’re in, when the privilege to meet your maker on a Sunday is overshadowed by a mundane task such as heading out to the local mall for a look-see.
The phrase “sell God” really got my attention since I suppose that’s how many people (Christians included) happen to see evangelism. Coming to know God could very go along in the same list as getting that expensive new computer or buying a luxury vehicle. It’s something nice to have if you’ve got the time for it and if it’s presented by the salesman just the right way.
One way to make a relationship with our Creator extremely attractive is to paint the horror stories of what would happen if you didn’t know God so vividly that you could hope to scare your listeners into coming to Christ. Here’s a quote from a post I read on Pulpit Magazine:
It seems that many of today’s gospel presentations are geared to trap someone into a logical corner where reason dictates that they make a commitment to follow Christ. Reason does make this demand, and so does Jesus. But Jesus structured this command in a way that caused the person to ask, “Is Christ more valuable than everything in life?” Most of our gospel presentations ask, “Do you want to go to hell? If not, then follow Christ.”
This is another case of one of those “Half-empty or half-full” paradoxes. On one hand, yes, if you do not know Christ you will go to hell, and yet convincing people to want to know Christ solely because of fear of hell does not agree with the Biblical model for evangelism. Christ is to be treasured, not conned into signing up for.