Theological Ramblings

In case anyone is wondering why I’m so critical of IFB’s and IFBC’s and the way they do Evangelism, I have an answer for you. I’m critical because I see the way the world reacts. I’ve done street evangelism in the FE way. I’ve heard people’s reaction to the gospel we’ve given them, and it terrifies me to see the world reacting the way they do to the ‘good news’. Let me give you an example from pop culture:

Ticket to Heaven

I’m walking a wire, it feels like a thousand ways I could fall
To want is to buy, but to live is to die and you can’t take it all
When everything is said and done I won’t have one thing left,
What happened to everything that I’ve ever known

Cause all they gave me was this ticket to heaven
But that ticket to heaven, said to lie in the bed that you make
Now I’m restless and I’m running from everything,
I’m running from everything,
I’m afraid it’s a little too late

And soft voices lie, innocence dies, now ain’t that a shame
And all of your dreams, and all your money they don’t mean a thing
When everything is said and done, you won’t have one thing left
What happened to everything I’ve ever known?

All they gave me was this ticket to heaven
But that ticket to heaven, said to lie in the bed that you make
Now I’m restless and I’m running from everything,
I’m running from everything,
I’m afraid it’s a little too late
It’s a little too late

Now, I could be misinterpreting this song, but it seems to me that he’s saying he found a ‘ticket to heaven’ - which is what IFBC Evangelism offers people - but he wonders if he isn’t missing something! Even with this ‘gospel’ his life still feels empty, like there’s something else. The reason I think he’s right is because the greatest human need is not to go to heaven, but to know and glorify God. This guy knows there’s something wrong. He’s the same lyricist who wrote another song on the same album:

Away From the Sun

It’s down to this
I’ve got to make this life make sense
Can anyone tell what I’ve done
I miss the life
I miss the colors of the world
Can anyone tell where I am

‘Cause now again I’ve found myself
So far down, away from the sun
That shines into the darkest place
I’m so far down, away from the sun again
Away from the sun again

I’m over this
I’m tired of living in the dark
Can anyone see me down here
The feeling’s gone. There’s nothing left to lift me up
Back into the world I’ve known

‘Cause now again I’ve found myself
So far down, away from the sun
That shines into the darkest place
I’m so far down, away from the sun
That shines to light the way for me
To find my way back into the arms
That care about the ones like me
I’m so far down, away from the sun again

It’s down to this
I’ve got to make this life make sense
And now I can’t tell what I’ve done

And now again I’ve found myself
So far down, away from the sun
That shines to light the way for me

He’s empty. He searching. He knows there’s a relationship with God that’s broken and he’s trying to find a way to fix it, but his ticket to heaven isn’t fixing the problem. That’s the problem with the Independent Fundamental Gospel - it does nothing to show the compassion and love of Christ to the world that is really going to help. But we don’t give it to them. ‘Ask Jesus into your heart so you can go to heaven’ just isn’t good enough anymore, folks!

In case anyone wonders, both of these songs are by 3 Doors Down - a band that I highly enjoy and think is the only actually talented mainstream music group in existence anymore! Both songs are from their album Away From the Sun.

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