Burlington Coat Factory Evangelism

Checking the news feed at Drudgereport.com is a daily routine of mine. A few weeks ago while checking out Drudgeport I came across an interesting story about a riot at a Columbus, Ohio Burlington Coat Factory. You can check out the news story here

As I read this story some thoughts came to my mind about evangelism. It is interesting what people will do when they hear a message of good news. The crowd of shoppers at the Burlington Coat Factory were quick to take advantage of the $500 worth of free clothes the supposed lottery winner was offering. They were also quick to spread the good news with others.

Sadly, their message of good news turned out to be a hoax and a riot ensued when reality hit. Stealing and looting were not the correct ways for the crowd to respond. The crowd's behavior reveals something about human nature and sinfulness.

$500 worth of free shopping is good news, but as Christians we claim to have a message of good news far greater than a shopping spree at a discount clothing and home furnishing store. As Christians we claim to know the way to life and life more abundant and free. We have a message of good news and for a moment just imagine what it would look like if we shared our message of good news with the same intensity of the crowd of shoppers at a Columbus, Ohio Burlington Coat Factory?

I for a few days I pondered that thought. I found myself pondering the question, "Why don't we share the good news of the gospel with the same intensity?" And lately I have come to these two conclusions: first, we don't care about our message, or we don't believe or message of good news. Those are two harsh conclusions, but I have yet to think of another alternative to explain the lack of evangelistic zeal in the church as a whole.

This is just a thought from my desk.