Imagine, if you will, a bustling city filled with people. The decibel levels are heightened with traffic, conversation, and the inevitable quarrel between two people frantically fighting for the same cab. The browns and greys of the buildings swirl together as the life of the city overwhelms your senses. Then you see it. As if it had come out of nowhere, its bright red and yellow design snaps you out of your abstracted fog of thought. “World’s Best Cup of Coffee.” There it is. That neon sign beckons you into its shop to be completely underwhelmed by burnt, stale coffee.
If you have ever been to a big city, I’m sure you’ve seen this before. Every corner is plastered with signs beckoning you to purchase or partake of what the merchants are peddling. When the small signs stop bringing in the people, they post bigger signs. When those stop working, they might change their wording or offer a “discount.” But when they really want to grab your mind from its focused train of thought, they pull out the neon sign. If they are desperate, they’ll even make it blink. These are considered marketing investments. Their strategic placement and colors aren’t by happenstance either. Marketing researchers bring in millions upon millions of dollars each year to figure out how to grab and hold your attention. It is truly a merger of art and science.
So, what does this have to do with the gospel? Well, let’s unpack that. The believer is called to share the gospel, this much is clear. Jesus tells the disciples in Mark 16:15 to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” This mirrors the Great Commission’s call to make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28:19. Paul claims that people cannot believe on Jesus for salvation if they have not heard of him from someone sent to share with them (Romans 10:13-15). Paul encourages the believer to put on the armor of God and to prepare themselves to have feet ready to go and share the gospel (Ephesians 6:15). In short, every believer should be prepared to share and actively sharing the gospel. We have something we want others to hear and pay attention to. Naturally, we do our own market research to increase our “customer base.”
I’ll stop here to acknowledge that there is absolutely nothing wrong with becoming more efficient and effective in sharing the gospel. We should take a note from the second letter to Timothy and study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15). The first time I shared the gospel with someone, I bumbled through the presentation and was grateful that the person was gracious in hearing it. The second time wasn’t much better. As I grew in my faith, I also began to pay attention to what worked and didn’t work. I’d like to think I’m much better at sharing the gospel after being a believer for almost forty years than I was at first. I think the most important thing to note here is that I changed, the gospel did not.
There is a trend in the world today that is driven by many different things. Some people genuinely believe that Jesus will come sooner if we win more souls. Others want to see their church overflowing with people worshipping Jesus. Some are keeping score (literally) and seeing how many people they can “win for Jesus.” There is also a group who simply read the call to “go” and have obeyed their master because their life is not their own. I’ll leave you to your opinions on these scenarios. The basic truth is this: where there are those wanting to see the lost receive salvation, there are those desperately looking to increase their harvest. This is beyond reasonable, it’s even noble!
Where we go wrong is when we begin to change the gospel to appeal more to the lost rather than pleading with the lost to appeal to Christ for forgiveness. The message that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and raised on the third day, all according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), can begin to seem like a small advertisement when it is ignored so often. Those who passionately want their friends and family to see God’s love for sinful man displayed through the propitiatory death of Christ can be inclined to make “bigger signs” to aid their appeal, highlighting the things that their loved ones are more interested in such as “love.” A sign that once read “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15), now reads “God loves you!” It isn’t wrong, but it isn’t complete either. When these signs become “old hat”, our once passionate gospel preachers can become carnival barkers, yelling my favorite bullhorn slogans: “Turn or burn!” “Get right or get left!” “Get sanctified or crispy-fried!” (Please read the sarcasm in my calling these my favorites…) If they don’t turn this way, perhaps they go even further in seeking to provide a more “simple” and “accessible” gospel presentation. Cue the neon lights!
How many times have you heard, “Do you want to go to heaven? Just ask Jesus into your heart!”? Perhaps you have even told someone that Jesus is coming back any day now and they need to get their affairs in order so that they aren’t left behind for the apocalypse. I’ve even heard the promise of seeing dead loved ones again dangled like a carrot in front of someone being encouraged to “make a decision” for the Lord. I’m not passing judgment on those who have done or said these things. I’m not saying that some of the information isn’t accurate. I’m saying that God doesn’t need our market research. He doesn’t need our neon signs. He hasn’t called for cold-calling carnival barkers or soft-hearted salespeople. The presentation of the gospel from Scripture may not be shiny in the worldly sense. Shiny isn’t always sufficient. Our neon sign may be attractive, but what happens when they find out that you don’t really have the world’s best cup of coffee? What happens when we tout God’s love and their definition of the word doesn’t match ours? What happens when “pie in the sky” promises are met with the reality that in this world there will be trouble (John 16:33)? What happens when the fear of eternity is overtaken by the fear of missing out on what the world has to offer? We must be offering something that cannot fail and encouraging the lost to hear the calling of the Father to repent of sins, believe in His son who died for their sins and was raised again by the power of God, and make Jesus the Lord of their life. There are no broken promises in this gospel. There is no confusion about the state of fallen man and their need for a savior. There is also no need for neon.
The news of the person and work of Jesus Christ is powerful and beautiful to those being drawn by the Father and empowered by the Spirit to receive it. It is the very power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16)! Salvation isn’t something that happens by chance, but something ordained by God Almighty! Rather than trying to dress it up or simplify it, maybe we should believe in its power. Rather than making our gospel presentation more palatable, perhaps we should try to make it more often instead. There’s no need for neon when you are preaching about the light of the world.
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
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