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Door-to-Door Gospel Salesmen
By daniel | February 23, 2006
Today I read a scathing post reviewing a book from the Left Behind series, asking why we try and force people to 'buy now' instead of 'taste and see'. You can read the whole thing here. (via onehouse)
How did something that was supposed to be about "good news" become, instead, an awkward, embarrassing and odious duty?
This happened, I think, when what ought to be an act of hospitality was transformed into an act of salesmanship. Salesmanship, whatever else it may be, is ultimately inhospitable.
…
"Evangelism" today is not seen as the practice of hospitality, but as a kind of marketing scheme. It is not an invitation, but a sales pitch. Not a matter of "taste and see," but of "buy now." Or, to use one of my favorite descriptions of the work of evangelism, it is not "one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread," but rather one fat man trying to convince another fat man that he's a beggar in order to close the sale on another loaf.
Topics: The Gospel |
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