An Odd Email

I love the spectrum of theological beliefs that is available to anyone to choose from, on any given Sunday. You really can have it all in America today. And while I am a pastor who applauds and celebrates diversity, there are just some things that come across my desk that make me sad. Today, the following email evoked just this feeling.

I received it from an organization called Christian Response (I'm not sure why I'm on their mailing list). The subject of the email was "Have you led anyone to the Lord today?"

It read like this:

"Save a lost soul in under 5 minutes a day † "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because it's wickedness has come up before me." - Jonah 1:2

Friends, our world desperately needs help. Tens of thousands of souls are going to Hell DAILY! As Christians, we know that only through Christ will the people of this world find salvation. Yet we are fighting an uphill battle for the souls of our brethren, and we are LOSING!

My name is Bill Keller. As the founder of LivePrayer.com, my ministry for the past 9 years has been to bring the uncompromised Truth of God's Word to the world and ministering to people in their time of need, through LivePrayer.com. Today, I am asking you to join me in reaching out even further to offer salvation to lost souls – and it costs you nothing.

According to the CIA World Factbook, there are approximately 6,446,131,400 people on the planet. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, 2,100,000,000 of those people fall under the category of "Christian". 155,000 people die every day. Here’s how that math works out.2,100,000,000 "Christians"
155,000 People Die Daily = 103,333 Souls In Hell Daily

However, the statistics are clear and it’s simply not enough. This is an unholy world we live in, and the statistics show that Satan is still taking at least 2 out of every 3 souls to eternal damnation. But we CAN make a difference. This new era of the internet has brought about many new ways to do things faster, easier, and more efficiently. Social Networking is one of them. The Jonah Project will use this understanding of networking with people, over the internet, to build a strong group of evangelizers.

Help us in our mission to repair the damage our own neglect has caused. Help us to take this world back from the devil. Help us to proclaim Christ’s name as loudly as possible, and spread His love to the entire world. But most of all, join us as we take action to lower that number of daily lost souls from 103,333 to 0. "

The reason this makes me sad is because I feel these earnest people are really going about faith in Christ the wrong way. Being a Christian is more than "getting saved" and then in turn "saving others too." Being a Christian, I feel is a transformative journey of being in relationship with God. Being a Christian is about having your life changed by the relationships found in Christian community. Being a Christian is about loving God and loving others through deeds which show God's love in tangible ways, not in "let me tell you how not to go to hell" speeches.

In the end of life, we will all stand before God and tell about our actions- have we feed the hungry? Have we clothed the sick? Have we loved our neighbor as ourselves? Have we made the most of our God given life to share hope, kindness and compassion with those who are oppressed and suffering?

These are questions I work toward every day.

However, who gets into heaven is not for me to say, such a question is too mysterious for any of us to answer, I believe. Thanks be to God for the mystery of the Christian faith! Even though mystery is much harder reality to live with, this seems like a nicer way to live with our neighbors and journey through life!