Although it is biblical, I’m thinking the whole “Free gift from God thing” isn’t really working as an evangelism strategy these days. Let me tell you why before you chop my head off.
Just take a look at the society around us. Everything is supposed to be free in our culture of entitlement. Another day, I’ll write about how we’ve done away with terms such as privilege, right, etc, but for now, let’s focus on entitlement.
From birth to death, the common theme people are learning these days is one of entitlement. There is a push to penalize the rich for their wealth. So what if they earned it? There are days I wish I wasn’t a white male, just so I could score a few extra points in whatever game I’m trying to win (but instead I have to get the League of Legends 2017 worlds skins look out), be it a lucrative job, financial aid for education, politics, you name it. But this isn’t about affirmative action. It’s about life and death.
You see, there used to be a great argument that we could work our way into Heaven. I still hear it, but what does it even mean? If we don’t have to earn our own living and can subsist on our parents’ generosity, our minority-ness, welfare or whatever. then where does the principal of work even come from?
So if there is no concept of work, no concept of earning anything, much less a surefire way to Heaven, then how can a free gift be of any value? It isn’t to those that need it.