It’s more than a little embarrassing. I was listening to a program on the internet a while back and they were talking about a new book called “Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture.” The book is written by a Jewish man who is a freelance author who writes for The New Yorker Magazine as well as other publications. He spent a year traveling around the country interviewing people and taking a look at the church from an outsider’s perspective. Amazingly he was not overly critical! He actually had some positive things to say. But some of what he reported was well…disturbing.
Yes there were the ridiculously silly things that we sometimes refer to as “Jesus Junk” that one finds in too many “Christian” bookstores but more disturbing to me was the attitude or mindset that drives the whole Christian subculture. He talked about an ad that he saw for “Christian” golf balls. These were golf balls with a Christian message printed on them. One pastor said, “It was the best golf evangelistic tool he had seen.” I of course wondered how many golf evangelistic tools there were! What disturbs me is not that someone might use a gold ball with a Bible verse on it – I’m just curious about the idea of it being an effective witnessing tool when someone finds it in the weeds or at the bottom of a pond. I guess what really bothers me is that I could see how I would be much more willing to use that method than to walk across the street and talk to my neighbor. That might involve me sharing my life with them…could get messy. Maybe I’ll just give them a “testamint” fresh breath is important.
The problem with all this silliness is that we cheapen the Gospel in the process. Why should they take our message seriously when we present it in such a way? It’s worth thinking about. See you Sunday.
Rod