Do You Want to Hear Something Really Scary?

Things I love about this time of year:

  • Cooler, crisp weather and the extra spring in my step during my morning run.
  • The pageantry and thrill of college football (Roll Tide!)
  • Midnight Madness, and the beginning of college basketball season (Go Duke!)
  • The MLB playoffs and World Series (Go Cards! Please?)
  • Watching (and coaching) my sons play soccer
  • Having a fine dinner with Eyegal and driving home with the top back and the windows down
  • Catching a glimpse of God in the bushes and trees which are just starting to burn with the fiery colors of fall
  • Pumpkins. And the sweet aroma of decay emanating from piles of fallen leaves

Things I hate about this time of year:

Of course, it’s all for a good cause–“a 33% salvation and rededication decision rate!”

That’s pretty scary. But do you want to hear something really scary?

Had I not been raised in the faith, but instead was examining Christianity for the very first time, I’m afraid I would turn and walk away.

But maybe some of you could convince me otherwise.

10 Comments

  1. Brady

    I’ve never heard of these “houses”. Have heard of hell, though.

    Do you know anyone who ever went to one of the houses? Were they as turned off as most people would be? I’d be interested in knowing what personal reactions were.

    Their list of optional scenes / experiences is just plain scary.

  2. Mike the Eyeguy

    No, I don’t know anyone who has personally been to one. But I do know that we have had them in the Huntsville area before.

    Even Jesus didn’t talk about hell as much as these people do. Kinda makes you wonder what kind of skeletons might be in their closets.

  3. Donna

    Oh they are big around here….

    And I am with you, if this is all I knew…I would walk away and think Shirley McClain was on to something….

  4. Mike the Eyeguy

    Or maybe Tom Cruise.

    Nah…

  5. Laurie

    I’m a relatively late-in-life Christian — I didn’t see any appeal till around age 30+ or so. These are the kinds of things that kept me away so long. And if this were all that is out there, I still wouldn’t see the appeal.

  6. Mike the Eyeguy

    I have a friend who also converted in his 30s. Stuff like this was among the things which gave him pause. He also said that he would always prefer to “see a sermon instead of hear a sermon.”

    Have I got that right, Ed?

  7. Kate

    Great first half. God is in Beauty. I just forget to look.

    Interesting timing on the second half. Two bloggers who met at girlfriday have been debating the Jesus Camp documentary. One of them is a devout Christian, the other a devout Skeptic.

    Not wanting to see the Skeptic discouraged by the disagreement, I wrote (sorry to lamely copy and paste): I charge you to remember that Christian perspective varies widely, but in the heart of every true Christian you will find some common themes, among them the struggle to balance a real zeal for Christ with a truthful, realistic approach to a world that is not Christian. The results aren’t always pretty. If you can, overlook this fact. Rather, aim to get at the heart of the individual on a case-by-case basis. I don’t know the people in that film and neither do you. But you know Brett. You know Audrey. You know others. You must know, through the witness of their lives, that reason and faith are not always at odds. Disagree where you please and with vengeance. But fight the assumption that Christianity can be summarized in a two-hour film about summer camp [insert “hour visit to a religiously-themed haunted house” here].

  8. Mike the Eyeguy

    That’s fair enough. Such reasoned eloquence and sincerity might even “convince me otherwise” in the scenario I described.

    You’ll notice I did say “fellow believers;” so I’m not disowning them, as much as I would like to. I’ve been around long enough to experience the full spectrum of Christian belief and practice, so nothing really surprises me anymore.

    But I really do hate that kind of kitschy manipulation and always have. When I was 16yo, the leaders of a church where I was attending a youth rally pulled a similar stunt in order to “rattle our cages” and “shake things up.”

    Afterwards, one elder asked me what I thought. I told him that I though it was in very poor taste, embarrassing and an eyesore on the body of Christ (remember I was 16yo). Needless to say, he was surprised.

    I still feel the same as I did in 1978, which was long before it became fashionable to bash evangelicals. Sounds like an interesting discussion–send me a link.

  9. Ed

    I wasn’t aware of the hell houses until after I became a Christian. However, the “scared-straight” method would not have worked on me. This method plays on your emotions, which as you know, I have none 😉 There are many reasons that I avoided churches over the years, but hypocrisy and the constant bombardment of messages about how sinful I am and how eternal hell awaits me rank near the top. When one is looking for hope, love, help, and compassion, this approach would not have appealed to me. As you mentioned, I had to see the compassion and feel the love before I believed. Call me Thomas, but the words were hollow up to this point. When I believed, then I heard the words …

    I would be curious to know what age group is being brought to salvation/rededication by this method. I’m guessing the teens.

  10. Mike the Eyeguy

    Yup, I would guess mostly teens too. They’re usually the ones who go for haunted houses and such.

    I can relate to the “Thomas thing.”

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