Treacherous Tracts.

I read a book a couple of years ago called, "Unchristian".  It's a book that chronicles the largest perceptions and stereotypes of modern Christianity and its followers as according to research done by a large, corporate survey group.  Some of the perceptions are obvious:  Antihomosexual and old-fashioned.  There were others too such as judgmental and hypocritical.  The one that sticks out in my mind is that we are more concerned with saving people so that we can give ourselves a pat on the back than we are with building relationships with people and actually caring about them.

A year and a half ago, I started working at Country Cupboard in Lewisburg as a waiter.  Every so often, a couple times a month, people will leave these tracts and religious pamphlets at the table for me and the rest of the wait staff to read.  I've even had a couple people stop me right before I walk away from the table for the last time and say, "Do you know Jesus?" and hold out a tract for me to read.  I cannot express to you how disgusted and turned off I am by this way of evangelism.  Especially when most of the tracts that you receive are uproariously cheesy enough to not be taken seriously.  In fact, I just received one last week that had a silver square on the front and proclaimed, "Place your thumb in the square for 15 seconds.  If you're a "good person" the square will turn green, good luck!"  Obviously, the silver square did not turn green, and after turning it over it said, "Surprised?  None of us are good people...", and went into the religious spiel.  Not only am I disgusted, but all of my coworkers who aren't Christians take them, grumble and swear about them, laugh at them, and without even taking the time to read them, crumple them up and throw them away. 

Don't get me wrong, I am a staunch supporter of witnessing, making disciples, and following the great commission, but tracts, I strongly believe, are not the way that Jesus intended.  To the world, tracts are seen as ways for Christians to pat themselves on the back for doing a good deed.  When you're handed a slip of paper from someone you don't even know that says, "This could save your life!", it comes across as less religious and more offensive.  If the Christian truly cared about saving your soul, they would build the relationship with you first of all, and once they earned your trust and respect, then bring up the subject of salvation.  We need to let our lives be an example of Christianity, instead of handing someone a poorly written tract with the same old, same old, "Pray this prayer and you're saved", message on it. 

Okay, but say we actually do save someone by giving them a tract.  What do they do now?  All they know is they prayed a prayer and all the sins were taken away.  We aren't around any more to disciple them and to answer the questions that they have.  Who knows if they even have a Bible?  And we all know how scary going to church for the first time can be, especially in a church where you know no one.  I believe that it takes more than a simple prayer to be a Christian, yet this is the very message that we're proclaiming.  With no foundation and no follow-up to go on, that one "saved" person is struggling to find the answers that we weren't there to give because we gave them a tract and faded out of their life.  And for all they know, all they had to do was to pray that prayer and their golden.  They don't know that a relationship with Christ requires much more than that.  It's no wonder 75% of Americans claim Christianity.  It's because we're teaching them that all they need to do is pray a prayer, and tracts reinforce this. 

So for all the good we think we're doing when he hand out tracts, are we really doing anything other than turning people off from the real Truth, or leading them astray and even farther from the Truth than they were before?  I think not.