Go to Church, Win a House
Want to boost the attendance at your local church?
Maybe you should point out the latest church-growth technique from America to your church council.
A church in Texas offered raffle tickets to those who attended their New Year's Eve services. What was the prize for the winner of the raffle? Free resources at their bookshop? Ten new Bibles for the winner's home group? A quilt made by the ladies' society?
Those answers are off by about $119,980; instead, the church gave away a new house, worth $120,000.
A member of the congregation (who is a contractor) offered to build the house for the cost of materials only, paid for by the church. The only catch was that the winner had to be in attendance to claim the prize.
On a television interview, the pastor said that it was a way of reaching out to new people. When asked by the reporter why the church didn't give the house away to a needy family, the pastor said that he had hoped that the person who won the house would be a “person of need.”
The news report also showed video clips from the service, which resembled a game show. The ten finalists were called up to the stage and given a key. Only one of the keys would open the mock front door of the house. So, one-by-one, the ‘contestants’ tried his/her key in the lock. Finally, a middle-aged mother of two unlocked the door to win the house.
This is just another way churches are pushing the envelope to attract new people. Of course, the motivation is not wrong. However, as usual, it is the method that falls woefully short of faithful Biblical Christianity.
I wonder about how a church plans to handle those who people were attracted to its services only by the raffle tickets and game show atmosphere? How do you help the transition of someone who comes one week for the emotional thrill of possibly winning a house to the next week where they have to sit through a 30 minute sermon on Romans? Imagine the letdown of that person who shows up to church the next week with no raffle drawing but just a few songs, a sermon and a prayer. (That is assuming the church intends to attempt such a task.)
I am reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3 where Paul exhorts Timothy to preach the gospel because a “time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth...”. While preaching the gospel seems outdated and ineffective in a materialistic culture, it is still the “power of God for salvation.” Not even the gratitude that comes from receiving a free residence has the ability to turns someone?s heart from idols to the true and living God. Only the power of the gospel can accomplish such a monumental feat.