Tonight I am taking my youth group to Reality House in Eureka, MO. Every year for the last seven years that I have been at my church, we have taken our students to this event. It is a house of reality where the students pile into a van that finds itself in an accident. When the students get out of the van they are in the middle of an accident scene. There is an ambulance and fire department there at the accident scene and it is pretty grusome, but reveals the reality of a fatal car accident. Next the students are picked up by another van, the county coroner, and they are taken to the hospital where they see a family waiting to hear the verdict of their child who has just been in an accident. The doctor comes out and tells them that their family member has passed away, and in the midst of the sudden screams and cries the students are taken into the morgue to see the dead body on the table as the doctors finish their final reports. The students are then put onto a gurney and pushed into a dark room, through the wall, where they enter the next stage of their journey. They go to the “judgment line” where they stand before St. Peter and say their name to see if their name is in the book of life. If not, which none of their names are in the book, they are sent to hell. When they walk in the room that represents hell it is dark, hot, and full of smoke. There are cages and people screaming and satan comes out with glowing eyes (from glow in the dark contact lenses). After going through the house of reality, the students pile into a room where they are broken up into smaller groups to meet with counselors who go over the plan of salvation with them.
To tell you the truth, I am not all that comfortable with this type of evangelism, by itself. While it does reveal the reality of our afterlife to teens, it seems to me to promote a scare tactic to attempt to get students to accept Christ. This is what many have called a “fire-insurance” tactic. For students to accept Christ simply because they do not want to go to hell does not seem like a Biblical example of conversion to me. Any students who show a serious interest in being saved during this event, I personally believe need to be counseled one on one. If they go off believing that a simple prayer or “just asking Jesus into your heart” gets them a ticket into heaven, then I fail as a youth pastor. This is why my recent goal has been to council each student who has professed Jesus as their savior and to make them go through a 13 day study that helps them to learn about assurance of salvation and spiritual growth. For us to simply let a student accept Christ or show interest and just leave them hanging is wrong. It is also dangerous to them. Many have come and said “the prayer” and yet they walk away unconverted. These students grow up believing that they have salvation and need to do nothing. This is more dangerous that simply being lost, and as Christians who are called to reach people for Christ, we must do whatever it takes to avoid this outcome and not promote it by using evangelism tactics that lead people into a fake salvation that they don’t understand.
I hope to have a post up about the Missouri Baptists Convention as soon as I find time to type it.
Pressed
I agree with what you are saying about this type of high-pressured approach. I think it can do more damage than good. Also, kids often feel pushed into it instead of compelled by true desire.
I agree as well. The programs like this that I have seen have been very concerned about the number of salvations they get from this event. Are they more concerned with actually conversions or a number that they can announce from their pulpit on Sunday morning?
With you on this one too, Pressed
It sounds like you’ve got the right idea about follow-up on this event. I was pretty appalled to read about the event itself, but the way you describe your heart to disciple the students convinces me that you’re doing a lot of good through it. Sometimes the traditions in youth ministry are idiotic, but we can turn them to God’s will instead of scrapping them.
i agree with your arguement but i also think you failed to mention that with out events like this we could also be giving our students a false sence of security, and making them think that they may have more time to make there decision for christ when in reality they may only have days or weeks. (we can’t do anything to get kids saved only God can) But as you can tell our focus at our youth group has never been to leave students behind but in the same respect i think its good for them to see a glimse of reality once a year even it is frightening!
You Y.I.
A false sense of security? Teens have that built in.
Attempting to scare people to Jesus is just… dumb. I have a problem with people trying to do the job of the Holy Spirit, especially through scare tactics. Our job is to share, not convince.
I mean this in the nicest possible way, but if you are opposed to it, why do you continue the “tradition?” I mean, you’re the YM and you make the decisions–nobody is forcing you to condone the ritual if you don’t like it. You don’t HAVE to take the youth.
[completely agree with Anna and Christopher too]
An example: A couple of years ago our leaders began to throw out a lot of old traditions from our church. At first people were upset because they felt uncomfortable without the old, familiar ways, but they soon changed their minds when they saw that it led to growth instead - both in a spiritual sense and as in actual number of visitors. We sometimes forget that it is the Lord and not we, with our different “techniques”, that saves, I guess. As Christopher says, what we should do is share, not convince. (He says very smart things sometimes, doesn’t he? )
And from the little experience I have with teenagers, they probably would think going to hell would be cool… have they ever listened to a warning?
Very interesting discussion
Point 1: Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with the “scare tactic” at all if people follow it up with solid Christian counsel. The reality house was designed for teens, and anyone who has read any research about teenagers in the last 100 years or so knows that teens have that invincible attitute. If this is one of those things that hits home and helps them realize that they’re just as mortal as anyone else, what harm is there in that? I think the issue is that the kids are receiving some sort of Biblical base instead of just getting scared out of their wits. It’s the same principle as the groups that go around and stage accidents on high school property or that bring the cars that perform as if the driver’s intoxicated. Are they a better message than simply being told “don’t drink and drive” repeatedly in health class? I think so, because it forces them to at least momentarily think about themselves. If someone combines that experience with discussions while the experience is still “real” to the kids, though, it gets through to at least some of the kids a whole lot more effectively than just lectures and discussions will. It gives them a double whammy, and that’s what makes kids think about salvation. I don’t think the dilemma is taking the kids to the Reality House, I think it is how the YM and other adults in the group respond to the kids and what they’ve experienced. I think any experience that forces kids to consider their own mortality is good as long as they receive follow-up guidance.
Point number 2: A simple prayer to “ask Jesus into your hearts” IS all it takes, despite what you wrote. I see your point: Will that person grow spiritually if he merely says the prayer? No. But if the prayer was sincere, that really is all they need. Now, I don’t think that someone “unsincere” would go through all the steps, so that is probably a great way of determining if they have been converted. But I do believe that “saying a simple prayer” or “asking Jesus into your heart” (your words) IS enough if the person is sincere. Just a minor rebuttal to your word choice!
Point 3: I can think of a lot of “traditions” that the YMs before you had at TBC, Pressed. The later YMs changed the tradition. Yeah, they probably got some flack from the youth and their parents, but they did the right thing. Teachers have to do the very same things; they may have to abandon certain aspects of a previous teacher’s educational policy to do what is “developmentally appropriate” for their students. If the kids in the youth group aren’t ready for the Reality House or if you think it’s not an effective or Biblically-based method of evangelism, change it. It’s better to put up with the grumbles of a few kids and their parents than to force yourself to participate in something in which you don’t believe. You’re the one making the choices for these kids, not the other way around.
Gee, it sounds like I’m out for Pressed’s blood, doesn’t it? I’m really not; I’m just cranky in general and found an outlet here. Sorry, Pressed.
I agree with Point 1 Anna. This is the reason that I went ahead and took the teens to Reality House. The issue I have is less with Reality House in of itself and more to do with the number of people who pass through Reality House with no Biblical basis. By itself it is a scare tactic that could lead people into attempting to have a relationship with God for the sole purpose of not going to hell. That is not a Biblical relationship, nor is there any Biblical evidence of salvation happening through fear of hell. Now, this could either get them to go to church more and they could grow in their knowledge of God and their relationship with God may change. That would be a good thing. The other side is that it could simply lead them into a false sense of security. I think there are plenty of people who would “go through the steps” and yet remain unconverted without a relationship with Christ. Thus, the reason I do what I do when someone accepts Christ. Not because I believe everyone has simply come to Christ in fear or for some other reasons, but because I fear there are a large number who claim to come to Christ and live as a Christian in name only with a false sense of security. I agree that helping the teens see and live a glimpse of reality is something that could really connect with them, but I believe there needs to be follow up and further explanation.
I am afraid that I cannot agree with point number 2. I simply do not believe that saying a prayer and asking Jesus in your heart is the Biblical step to salvation. In fact, I don’t remember anyone who was converted in Scripture praying to ask Jesus into their hearts. There is not one single example of that. I believe the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith and that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead we shall be saved. As Baptists we have been all about saying a simple prayer and asking Jesus to come into our hearts, but where is the evidence of that? I think the Bible is clear in that it is belief in Jesus Christ and faith in him that warrants conversion. While our belief may lead us to pray, and while I do believe we need to confess which will involve prayer, it IS NOT the prayer that saves, it is not the asking that saves, it is the life changing faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that it is at the point in life that we have true faith and belief in Jesus Christ that we are saved, that doesn’t necessarily come through a simple prayer.
I am not sure why we can’t say to people, you have to give up your life, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ in faith instead of, “oh just say this prayer and you will be ok.” I think maybe it is because we are afraid that telling people they have to give their lives to Christ will scare them off. Saying things like deny yourself and sacrifice yourself might scare people away and they may never accept Christ. It is a lot nicer to just say Jesus loves you and all you have to do is pray. I don’t get that! Jesus didn’t even say that.
I have struggled with this and am faced with the question, to a lost person who has limited understanding of God, what in the world does “ask Jesus into your heart” really mean? What Biblical foundation am I giving a lost person by telling them that the step to salvation is simply asking Jesus into your heart? How does being saved by grace through faith relate to being saved by asking Jesus to come into your heart? Is faith activated by the prayer I pray to receive Jesus or is my prayer to receive Jesus a result of faith?
Call me crazy, I am all for evangelism but I am not satisfied with the way we have been doing it. I think there is something wrong with this picture.
Testing to see if the code thingy works.
Pressed wrote: “I am not sure why we can’t say to people, you have to give up your life, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Christ in faith instead of, “oh just say this prayer and you will be ok.”"
Apart from the reasons you yourself mentioned, I would have a hard time saying this to someone else. It sounds too drastic. Of course, doing all this IS a drastic change (to the better, hopefully), but I’ve seen many occassions where people have been told exactly that, decided to go through with it and then given up a few months later because A) their lives haven’t changed noticably and B) constantly denying yourself doesn’t seem to result in anything else than letdowns for yourself.
“Give up your life” - and then what? As you said - lives don’t change overnight. It’s something we have to practise on every day, so if you say to someone that he or she must give up his/her life, you probably should add “every day for the rest of your life, even if it doesn’t seem to have any effect in the beginning”.
“Giving up your life, take your cross” also gives the impression that we must change everything - let God lead us on his Ways (which people usually assume must be the way they themselves would avoid as long as possible - going to Yemen as a missionary, for example, even if you’re the kind of person who get burnt by staying less than five minutes in the sun) and suffer a lot, while giving up our lives is just as much (if not more) about letting God’s love to us affect us in the small things in our lives - give your spouse the last piece of the cake instead of taking it yourself, start noticing peoples achievements and give them credit for it, be friendly when you don’t have to, etc. These things can be hard enough, mind you - especially when the cake is delicious.
“Denying yourself” is also something that shouldn’t be said to someone without an explanation, I think. Deny yourself what? Food? Happiness? Money? It could give the impression that the more you deny yourself the good things in life, the more will God love you, and that’s not true, is it? Does it mean that you are a bad person who don’t deserve anything? The majority of the people I’ve talked with about faith needed to hear “If even God loves you, why can’t you love yourself?” more than “deny yourself”.
Just a commentary to what you said, Pressed I know you probably didn’t mean it the way I’ve made it look, but I think that in a way what you said doesn’t say more than “let Jesus into your heart”. I do agree that sometimes we should put more - or as much - focus on actively working on ourselves and our behaviour rather than just throw away a prayer when we feel guilty, but I don’t think giving up our lives as you express it can be done without prayer and actually letting Jesus take over our hearts either, if that makes sense?
Thanks again for a really interesting discussion. It’s great to hear your views
Oh, and why is there a little box with a number above under the commenting-box?
The litte box is an attempt at working on stopping some of the blog spam. It isn’t quite working yet.
Here is the major, major problem I have. I don’t think we should look at the Bible and say, “oh that can’t be right. People won’t listen to that, it will scare them off, they will have a hard time with that.” Was Jesus wrong? We have created a man made saying and simplified the gospel to a point that isn’t found in the Bible. We are placing the entire process of salvation on the human. “They need it easier, they don’t need to be offended, they need to hear this or that this way, so we can’t actually tell them what Scripture says because they won’t understand it.” I think that is faulty logic, as if we actually have a part in saving the person. We don’t need to simplify the Bible or change it to make salvation easier, because it isn’t us who saves in the first place.
Certainly we should go through the process, share Scripture with people, take them through the passages in Romans, and show them what Christ has done for us. But when they ask, what is it that I must do to accept Jesus? Do we throw out the Bible at that point? Or should we show them once again what the Bible says? There are many verses. Romans 10 - “If a man confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believes in his heart that God raised him from the dead he shall be saved.” and “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” I think we will find that over and over again the leading thing in salvation is belief and faith in the Son of God. So, once we have shared in that way then what? Well, then we pray, confess, and announce our belief in Christ. If it is a true faith and it is true belief then certainly they shall be saved. None of that really has anything to do with the whole asking Jesus in your heart buisness. Maybe it’s just me.
hi i have a question about that reality house you take your kids to every year, what church puts in on and where and what are the times and date , ive been looking everywhere and i have group that wants to go but i have no info , can u help me out please, thanks \\
shannon
Central Baptist Church in Eureka, MO puts it on every year.
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