(The following passage is taken out of the MERV – Modern Evangelism Revised Version:)

Matthew 5:1-3 – Now when he saw the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down.  His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying:

“If you died tonight, do you know where you’d go?”

What’s that?  You mean Jesus never used the threat of hell to pigeonhole people into making a decision to follow Him?  That’s not what my MERV says! (FYI – before you go running out to your nearest Christian bookstore looking for you very own MERV, relax - it’s not real)

Last week I shared how a report on Teen Mania’s misuse of statistics in order to shock people into action got me thinking about the way evangelicals love to use alarm, shock, and urgency in order to persuade people to repent and motivate believers to action.  I have seen how evangelism strategies can focus on dangling hell as a threat in order to awaken people to their need for Jesus, how books about the end times can frighten people into not wanting to be “left behind,” and how Christian culture warriors can sound the alarm about various menacing secular movements that threaten to destroy Christianity as we know it and kidnap our young people’s devotion.  And frankly, I’m shocked and alarmed by all this shock and alarm.  Yes, my friends, I think it’s time to sound…

A Call to Arms!!!  The Biblical Jesus is being hijacked by Christians and something must be done about it!!!  If you don’t read this post and agree with me, the loving Jesus you know will CEASE TO EXIST and will be replaced by a militant, secular music smashing, MTV hating, boycott-crazy Lord and Savior!!!

Having just about had enough of all the sketchy ways evangelical Christians can use shock and alarm and urgency in order to motivate people to action, I decided it was time to go to the source.  You see, if Jesus really used shock and alarm in order to motivate his disciples to action and crowds to repentance, then I need to get off my high horse and join the hellfire and brimstone crowd, decrying the declining state of values in America and calling people everywhere to join the battle.  But I don’t quite remember Jesus being this way, so I think we need to take a closer look.

As some of you pointed out in your comments to last week’s post, Jesus does overwhelmingly seem to honor people’s free will.  He seems content to teach the truth, often in mysterious parables, and then to leave it up to his listeners to respond with either obedience or rejection.  This approach is perhaps best illustrated by the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 – Jesus teaches or “sows the seed”, and people will respond in various ways according to the state of their heart.  Some will reject his message, some will receive it well but only obey a short time, while others will receive his words, understand them and live a fruitful life.  Even when Jesus says shocking things (i.e. Matthew 8:21-22 - Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”), there is not a hint of manipulation or threat.  Instead, he seems to focus more on what it means to follow Him, what the cost of discipleship is, instead of using Hell as a motivator.  The best example is probably the rich young ruler in Matthew 19, who is invited to sell all he has and follow Jesus, but is unable to do that and goes away sad.  People are simply drawn to Jesus because of his revolutionary love, groundbreaking teaching, and miraculous powers, and Jesus wants them to understand how complete their discipleship to him needs to be.  Do you see that?  People in the gospels are drawn to Jesus by love and awe for who He is or by their need for Him, and Jesus welcomes them but usually makes things harder by trying to communicate how committed a disciple must be.

As I read the gospels, I find that the motivation for evangelism never seems to be rescuing people from Hell or reversing an alarming trend of unbelief, as the Teen Mania ad mentioned last week communicates.  In fact, the motivation I find in the gospels is the desire to share the most amazing, life-giving story ever to take place.  This message, proclaimed by Jesus when he first burst onto the scene in Matthew 3, and repeated by his disciples when they are sent out in Matthew 10, is simply this:  “The kingdom is near.”  The kingdom is near!!!  The reign of God that heals the sick, raises the dead, comforts the afflicted, delivers the oppressed, destroys evil and rights wrongs, is within reach!  The greatest love you could ever experience, the sweetest justice, the most delightful joy, the most transcendent peace – all is available to those who would turn from their sin to embrace Jesus, God the Son.

That, my friends, is motivation enough.

So you can keep your alarm over decaying morals, and your use of threats in order to increase conversions.  Why not instead go deeper into comprehending the real message of the gospels – the kingdom of God is near.  All who know God will one day experience the kingdom of God in its fullest form, when, as it says in Revelation 21:3-4, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Until that day, we have the opportunity to give people a taste of that kingdom, to experience to some extent the amazing love, grace, joy, peace, and justice that are found in following Jesus.  I pray that this might be motivation enough for us.

(next week – although Jesus doesn’t threaten unbelievers with Hell the way some Christians do today, he does mention Hell often, and also communicates a sense of urgency and awareness when he discusses his second coming.  How does Jesus use Hell, and how can that inform our use of it today?)

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