have a tactful, tractful Christmas

did you know that you can order your thanksgiving dinner at cracker barrel? $60 will get you enough good food to feed eight people (with leftovers).

anyway, we tried that this year and it was great. hundreds of thousands evidently tried that this year and i can only assume it was great for them too. this is a phenomenon that i am just being introduced to.

anyway, we (my family and i) were in nashville visiting my brother and his family. as my brother and i pulled in to the cracker barrel parking lot to pick up our turkey and "fixins" i had to go inside to use the barrel... uhh bathroom. it was like standing in line for a ride at disney world. i'm just sayin... if the fire marshall had been dining out that afternoon he may have had a coronary.

once i had successfully maneuvered to my stall, i noticed a little booklet on the toilet paper dispenser. the cover said "the reason for the season". ok.
i opened it and began to read... here's what it said (no exaggeration)

"hello. we are writing you to let you know that we are in love with your soul. we want you to live, but if you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior you will die. if you continue on this road to destruction you will go to a place where you will burn forever and ever..."

what tha...?

it went on to quote scripture from the kjv Bible that offered the solution to this problem, and ended with...

"He is the reason for the season... Jesus. call on Him today, and have a very merry Christmas."

ok. i realize that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas. i realize the urgency of salvation and i realize that these people mean well. i am a Christian, and i have to tell you, i was a little turned off... not to the truth of the message itself, but to the "fire insurance", "give 'em hell" scare tactic used to deliver it. while hell is real, and necessary to our belief system, there is a way to invite people to know Christ that is much more... tactful.

I had someone tell me once that "Christians do not love God, they fear hell". He very well may have read a tract similar to the one i picked up.

i think its extremely important to NOT stress negativity and "wrath" when sharing the Gospel. Jesus didn't. He talked about the love, mercy and grace of the Father. He said "no man gets to the Father but by Me..." He could have finished truthfully with "... and if you don't trust on me and get 'saved' you will burn forever and ever in the lake of fire." why didn't He? because He understood the fragile nature of the human soul. we can't "handle the truth" as it were.

the Bible tells us that "God so loved the world..." it did not say "God so hated sinners that they would burn forever and ever..."

does God hate sin?
yes... more than anything.
will God send sinners to hell if they don't repent?
no.
why not?
personal responsibility.

when you get a bad grade on a paper, does the teacher give you an "F", or did you earn it?

in the same way, God gives you the rules... you earn the reward by choosing to accept or to refuse His gift.

should we tell people about heaven and hell? absolutely.

I just believe we should "give 'em God"... not hell. this, in no way "waters down" the Gospel. it just "expresses" it in the light of truth that God is good, God is love, God is perfect... God is God, and when we grasp this reality, we begin to LOVE Him for who He IS, and not just for keeping us from burning forever.

don't mis-understand me. the Bible mentions hell. Jesus talks about punishment. but the way I see it, someone must first give validity to the punishiment itself before any threat of it makes a change in their lifestyle... if i warn people by saying "stay indoors or the dragons will eat you", they will look at me like i'm crazy, and go along with their business. why? because they don't believe in dragons... they have no reason to. the people who read tracts and bumper stickers and protest signs might as well be getting yelled at about dragons or trolls... they don't believe in heaven, hell, God, Christ, Satan... any of it. we must first show it to them. we have to give them a "personal" taste of who God is. after they realize what Christ did for all humanity, then their eyes will be opened to the truth.

during this Christmas season my goal is to make God personal. Christ gave us the ability and priviledge to do so. i would challenge all of you to do the same. give people God. they get enough "hell" everyday.

anyway, like the tract said..."He is the reason for the season... Jesus. call on Him today, and have a very merry Christmas."

love you guys... see you next year.