Shepherd the Flock

Last week I was interviewed by a member of the Associated Press in regards to a blog article I had written earlier this year, Free Gas Giveways to Save Souls?

The writer, a very kind gentlemen, was doing a piece on Churches that promote Gasoline gift-cards and such to get attention and increase attendance, and he came across my blog article and wanted to inquire further. You can find his article in a few spots, one being at USA Today:

Godly or gimmick? Churches offer free gas

We talked a good bit about the subject, and I tried to be as ‘bipartisan’ as possible by not turning this into a simple doctrinal dispute. That is, lest unbelievers read and assume it’s just an argument about ‘words and names in our own law’, I tried to emphasize that the practice is a matter of integrity, and essentially, the very gospel itself.

Just a short sound-bite of my comments were included in the article, and as quoted, they were:

Nathan White, an Atlanta-area Baptist, was troubled by a church gas card raffle he learned about at a Baptist church in Snellville, Ga. The corporate executive, who plans to become a pastor, thinks gas giveaways are shameful financial gimmicks that undermine the Gospel.

“They are appealing to the natural corruptions in unbelieving people … . The Bible warns very explicitly about the dangers of greed, the love of money being the root of all evil,” said White. “Appealing to the selfish motives of people is not Christianity.”

I went on from there about the high calling of Jesus in the gospel, the nature of true repentance as being the opposite of self-fulfillment, and even the differences between Arminianism and Calvinism, which is essentially the age-old argument over whether salvation is of good works or faith alone.

But to give the full context, let me expound a little further here:

• The gospel of Jesus Christ is about repenting from sin and turning away from the natural desires of our flesh; it is diametrically opposed to self-fulfillment.
• As JM Boice has said: “What you save them with is what you save them to.” That is, if you entice them with something to get them in and signed up, you’ve won them to that, not the gospel, and as soon as the enticement is gone, they will fall away.
• Also, in regards to simple integrity: is there no concern about a church, which obviously depends on giving to meet their financial needs, using gimmicks to increase attendance?

Again, the practice is more than a simple doctrinal dispute. The practice of enticing unbelievers to come to church by appealing to corruptions that are explicitly stated in scripture, is to undermine Christianity at it’s very core.

Nevertheless: what do you think about the article and my comments? Could I have taken it in a better direction, and/or was I too harsh?

For those wanting to know more about my comments and essentially, a fuller presentation of my argument, feel free to ask, or check out some of the following posts:

• Blasphemy in Today’s Churches
• Saved from What?
• Mike Horton on Joel Osteen’s Message: “It is certainly heresy”