#557. Creating tracts that look like money.
Jun 10th by JonA few weeks ago, while walking in the parking lot at Wal-Mart, my daughters and I found two five dollar bills on the ground. My first thought was, “Nice, free money!” My second thought was, “Wait a second, this might be a Christian trick.”
That’s a weird thing to think when you find money on the ground, but before I picked it up, I tried to see from a distance if the money was real or not. My fear was that I would get my hopes up, grab it and then realize it was a salvation tract disguised as money.
That happened to me once and even as a Christian, I found it kind of traumatizing. And it’s not that I hate tracts. I think tracts can be a good thing. I don’t like that sometimes people, myself included, beat them up like some sort of Christian piñata, making fun of the people that hand them out. I think for some people, handing out tracts is an honest expression of worship. The truth is that there are probably people reading this site today that could easily say, “Someone giving me a tract on the street really meant a lot to me.”
But is there anyone that picks up what appears to be a ten dollar bill, flips it over, finds out it’s actually a message about the Bible and says, “Phew, I thought this was free money for a second. Let’s see what this John 3:16 is all about instead?”
I doubt it. The first reaction is probably anger. Followed by embarrassment for falling for a trick. Followed by throwing the tract away or bringing it home to show all your friends and family members how mean Christians are.
There are really only two ways to fix this problem. We can either stop creating tracts that are disguised as money or we can create an even worse tract so that when people do get the fake money tract they can at least say, “Wow, I don’t like this fake money but at least it’s not as bad as that other tract I hear is going around.”
I would like to pretend that this blog is powerful enough to make number one happen but let’s be honest, it isn’t. So instead, I think we should lean into option number two as hard as we can.
What would be worse than fake money? I thought long and hard about this because there’s already a fake parking ticket tract going around. Abraham Piper wrote about that a few months ago. After much consideration and a desire to be topical and relevant, I decided that the worse tract we could create right now is a fake pink slip. With as many layoffs happening and as many people finding their jobs “eliminated” or my favorite new term, “sunsetted,” I think a little tract that looks like you’re getting fired would be most horrible.
Imagine you come back from lunch and there’s a note on your keyboard. It’s pink, it’s official looking and across the top in a font that looks all serious it says, “Please pack your things and leave the keys to your desk in one of the drawers.” You open it up and inside it says …..I’m not sure.
That’s the challenge with writing a bad tract, you have to make a wild segue from “you’re fired” to “here’s Jesus.” Here are a few headlines I think we could use on our fake pink slip tract:
1. “You might not have been fired, but speaking of fire, imagine how hot hell might be.”
2. “You might still have a job, but did you know your real job is to worship the Lord?”
3. “Your job wasn’t eliminated, but you know that fear in your heart that you just felt when you thought it was? God wants to eliminate that.”
4. “Want a job you can never lose? Become a follower of Christ.”
5. “Who knows when you’ll get fired, but today you could be hired … for the Lord’s army that is.”
6. “Want to work for a Jewish carpenter?”
Those are horrible, but unfortunately not far off from what happens sometimes. Let’s stop trying to trick people into Jesus. I would love everyone that reads this blog to become a Christian and know the insane life transforming joy that I sincerely believe a relationship with Christ offers, but I have to trust that God is big and beautiful and powerful enough not to need me to help Him out by tricking people into His arms.
Comments
Passing out tracts without sharing the Gospel is sorta like demonstrating compassion without sharing the Gospel. We can be the "Hands & Feet of Jesus" but if we're not also the "Mouth" of Jesus, how is that sharing the Gospel?
As for tracts "tricking" people, I think this happens in many ways including the seeker-sensitive, emergent-purpose-driven, best-life-now church methods. Consider all the silliness that goes on within some of these churches. Consider the promotions and clown-act entertainment on stage. Is this not "tricking" the un-churched person into coming to their church in order that they might like Jesus?
One could argue that both methods have the potential of reaching the lost for Christ. Maybe that tract you left on a bench led someone to Christ. Maybe that funny drama at church led someone to Christ.
Personally, I think we need to spend more time sharing the actual Gospel instead of trying so hard to attract people.
~ktf~
John
1 Tim 6:6-10
6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
———————————–
So what's in your heart when you bend to pick up that money tract…greed for free money or contentment/a desire to return it to the owner???? Check youself…
Anonymous @ 3:34- Thanks. I looked the Chick guy up. Don't know him, so I can't judge him. But can't say I agree with him or some of his methods.
This is hilarious and too true! Being a former server in the Bible belt, we would get fake money tracks all the time — as tips!!! How are we suppose to make a living off of fake money!?
One time, I put a fake $20 money tract outside of the in Wal-Mart video store I worked at after high school. My friend (of all people) who I was constantly talking about Jesus with, was the one to find it. He excitedly picked it up and right in front of me turned it over and said, "Damn Christians." He threw it down. I sheepishly told him it was I who placed the tract. He shook his head. I wanted to give him $20. That was the last time I placed a fake money tract. I have felt ever since that his reaction would be the same for anybody who found it. *Giving them as tips is just plain sinful.
Wow Jon, did you stir up the pot or what?
My father, the pastor of the church I attend, puts his tip inside of our church tract. It gives the times for our services, his name and number, plus some verses from Romans. No tricks, straight up communication and an invitation to attend our services.
"Let's stop trying to trick people into Jesus."
And let's also stop using fear as a motive in bringing people to Christ–no more hellfire and damnation, just love God for his own sake.
Someone might've already written this, but I'm too lazy to read through 109 comments. But the worst thing is to be a waiter and get one of those fake money tracts as a tip. Especially because that usually means that they left no real money.
Well, I'm even further at the bottom of the list, so… yea…
For me, If i go eat anywhere and hand out any tract, I make sure I tip really well. Usually more than the estimated %. Funny part is, most people who would hand out the tract instead of a tip doesn't read SCL. Take the complaint to them. (if you can find them)
I have used the 1 million tract (obviously fake) from the way of the master that uses the reflection of the law to share the Gospel… you ask them if they know the answer to the million dollar question…
And yes from some of the earlier posts, I know that hellfire and brimstone is "old-school" but have you ever thought that people need to know what they are saved from in order to be saved?
God is love and mercy, but He is also just, righteous and holy. He is equally infinite in all His characteristics. Don't try to hide some just because they can be scary. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all Wisdom. Many people have been saved by the "old school" methods. They have their place, just as does relational evangelism.
If they don't see they have a need for a Savior, will they go looking for one?
Just some thoughts that came to my head while reading now that this topic is old.
Conres- Conies filled with radishes. gross.
Sure, a tract changed my life.
Jack Chick made me an atheist.
Maybe, maybe not. We found a tract on our car once when I was a kid. I read it, and the image at the end, of one's whole life and every thought being replayed on a screen in the afterlife as God judged one, left me afraid to think *anything* for years. The other message I drew from that tract was that living a good life, being a good person, didn't matter; you can be the worst sort of person up until the very last second, as long as you do a deathbed repentance. What creepy, hateful stuff, promoting a creepy, hateful god. The God I find my religious friends believe in – the one I tried to find belief for within myself – is one of love and compassion, who encourages people to live lives of love and compassion, not a threatening bogey man.
At our county fair, a local church pointedly placed its anti-Mormon tracts at the end of their booth that was next to the neighboring booth – belonging to the LDS church. This is precisely the passive-aggressive "witnessing" that make such as Chick tracts so laughably hypocritical to many of us.
Are there tracts out there less full of lies, spite, and hate than Chick tracts? Yes, I've received those, too, and believe me, there's no nicer message than "I can't be bothered to talk to you, but I'm going make assumptions about you by giving you this poorly printed, trite, badly written tract. If it doesn't bring you to Jesus, you must be beyond saving!" Spare me.
A good run-down on Jack Chick, focusing mainly on his obsessively anti-Catholic tracts:
http://www.catholic.com/library/sr_chick_tracts_p1.asp
Oh, by the way, the Elder Gods are coming and everyone is doomed!:
http://rubbersuitstudios.com/ptcct.htm
I work as a server, and I've got to say, the absolute most depressing thing is walking away with your check presenter, opening it up to see what LOOKS like a $100 bill, only to realize it's a Jesus Tract in disguise and your table completely ripped you off.. yes. It happens. Far too often. If you're trying to get people to care about your message, Tip Responsibly. Don't tract & dash.
I suggest we will honour the gospel if we create something that says 'Hi! Please receive this free gift from a local Christian, who wants you to know that the free gift of God is eternal life. Find out more from…' and attach it to real money.
That way, you eliminate the disappoinment factor, the person is already happier than they were a few moments before, the note is likely to be read, and the people may realise that instead of passing a collection bowl under their nose and seeking a donation, the genuine love of God is a free gift.
I do realise that this would be an expensive tract. But aren't souls worth a bit of an investment?
Bad tracts should just inspire Christians to write better ones – not dump them altogether, which has already been said, I'm just reiterating it.
I have been offended by that million dollar tract because it says, "if you have ever told a lie, if you have ever stolen anything then you are a lying thieving, etc. person going to hell." Its language is so bad.
Words fitly spoken are like apples of gold in a setting of silver – Proverbs.
How we say it makes so much difference, but the medium is not bad.
Synchronicity can be an important factor with tracts, you know, when you are crossing a street, or something, and at the moment you ask a certain question, there is that piece of paper lying on the ground? God can use that to speak to you.
The track record with tracts (pun) speaks for itself. Many people have been touched by tracts.
No matter how many botched testimonies there are out there, God still works – it's amazing. it just inspires me to be the best I can be.
I have a tract or two that I keep handy – ones I have scoured to find, that have good words.
I also created my own witnessing tool – a collection of pertinent scriptures for sharing the gospel that were suggested by Bill Faye in his seminar on "How to Share Jesus Without Fear."
this was the funniest blog you've ever written.
Just to add a little fuel to the fire late in the game. Tract makers (Chick/Way of the Master) need to stop referencing the oft-discredited and now incarcerated Kent Hovind. This does nothing but invite scorn from those outside the church.
Imagine one that looks like a lottery ticket??
"by saying that you hate tracts. When you do that you turn the gospel into what you prefer."
Not true. Tracts aren't the gospel. They are watered down versions of a fraction of the gospel usually accompanied by horrible cartoons.
I see no need for tracts. As someone else said earlier, we could be sharing God's love with people through true interaction rather than the mere scrap of time it took you to throw a tract at them or hide it in their house, on their car, or strategically place them around someone's job site.
I think anything that makes evangelism easier or more comfortable for US is a sham of what God really wants. He didn't say "Follow me until it gets awkward or inconvenient to share my free of love and grace…but when it does, of course by all means go find a cheap easy shallow way to share me, the Greatest Gift to all humanity."
We are to live as he lived, pray as he prayed, relate to people, engage them, get in their lives. And it doesn't have to be in creating some earth shattering frienship. You can get in someone's life in the 5 minutes it takes to order a sub from Subway.
OK, this is awesome!
"I think it's be better to give out real money instead of money tracts. "
I think some churches have done things like this. Given groups of people X amount of money & told them to go find ways to bless people with it. Then they come back and share how it was used.
I love this. I am going to look at how I can keep an extra few bucks on me and just hand out cash to people in God's name!
Could you imagine someone leaving a fake $10 Bible tract instead of a tip. That would really cheese off a restaurant server.
I have a good friend who refuses to even discuss religion and one of the reasons she gives is because of these tracts. She was a waitress in college and the Christians were the worst customers! They were demanding, condescending and entitled and then would tip in a "money tract". Makes you wonder how much damage these things have actually done.
we should all examine our hearts and our level of commitment to the great commission before we comment negatively about tracts. before posting any kind of response on here about gospel tracts, think in your heart of hearts, just between you and God… how many people have you shared your faith with? if someone prays over every "arrow" (i.e. tract) they fire away, do you really think God is not going to make it to hit the target? you are, after all doing His work… PRIDE, that is ALL of our problem, Christians and Pagans alike… think about it. have FAITH! (as for the tipping thing, "by their fruits you will know them", seems they may not have REALLY been Christians after all)
Trying to reach the intellect, without verifiable evidence to back up what you are saying, is an exercise in futility.
I believe God can use any medium, including those tracts, because He is awesome and delights in using the foolish things to confound the wise.
However, on the whole, I disagree with their very concept because we don't force or beg anyone to accept Jesus. They must see the reality of the truth of God's Word and the power of His Work.
God confirmed Paul's doctrine by miracles. These were proofs of his apostleship and authenticated the message he preached.
What confirms our doctrine today? There must be result, evidence, proof – to toch the heart, not merel mental assent.
http://thetbjoshuafanclub.wordpress.com
This is sneaky stuff. I received one of these things at a Christian music festival from some Kirk Cameron look-a-like and I was highly offended it wasn't actually a million dollar bill. Sadly, I didn't realize that until I tried to buy a vanilla milkshake at Mickey D's.
DAVID LETTERMAN'S HATE, ETC. !
David Letterman's hate is as old as some ancient Hebrew prophets.
Speaking of anti-Semitism, it's Jerry Falwell and other fundy leaders who've gleefully predicted that in the future EVERY nation will be against Israel (an international first?) and that TWO-THIRDS of all Jews will be killed, right?
Wrong! It's the ancient Hebrew prophet Zechariah who predicted all this in the 13th and 14th chapters of his book! The last prophet, Malachi, explains the reason for this future Holocaust that'll outdo even Hitler's by stating that "Judah hath dealt treacherously" and "the Lord will cut off the man that doeth this" and asks "Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?"
Haven't evangelicals generally been the best friends of Israel and persons perceived to be Jewish? Then please explain the recent filthy, hate-filled, back-stabbing tirades by David Letterman (and Sandra Bernhard and Kathy Griffin) against a leading evangelical named Sarah Palin, and explain why most Jewish leaders have seemingly condoned Palin's continuing "crucifixion"!
While David, Sandra, and Kathy are tragically turning comedy into tragedy, they are also helping to speed up and fulfill the Final Holocaust a la Zechariah and Malachi, thus helping to make the Bible even more believable!
(For even more stunning information, visit MSN and type in "Separation of Raunch and State" and "Bible Verses Obama Avoids.")
Here's another deception that I hate. As a military man people are always saying, "Thanks for your service!" and "I really support you."
WHATEVER!
Do you really want to show your support?
Buy me lunch.
-William
This post and most of the comments remind me why I stopped reading this blog and disfriended Jon on Facebook. I cannot stand the judgmental attitude here when most of you are products of an American evangelicalism that is only good for making false converts. Read the Bible, for once in your lives. The gospel is offensive, hell is real, and Jesus is worth laying down our lives for. (It never even occurred to most of you that maybe Jon & Kate are false converts who need to get saved!)
There is a difference between money tracts intended to look like a $20 or $100 (which is illegal anyway) and I can see the problem with that.
But handing out a $1,000,000 with the gospel message is a problem – why? Warning those who continue in sin of a coming judgment is a problem – why?
And for you waiters & waitresses – stop accusing "Christians" of leaving tracts in place of a tip. I guarantee you it is primarily false converts doing that as well.
first time I ran across this site…sound like a bunch of bitter comments. Like some who decided to stay in the upper room and look out the window and make discussion on the events below. The person who started this webblog probably wanted it designed to "strengthen" Christians not bitter people who have been hurt by church goers or want to complain without comfort…either way.
I hope you understand that this site is ONE BIG TRACT and the world gets to see "Christians" trashing each other.
I don't know about your original reason to start such a sight but if it is to be constructive…I don't see it.
I see 1 or 2 Christians who are trying to share "the Gospel" any way they can.
Everyone else just loves to take their wolf clothing off and have at it.
"Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."
Phil 1:15-18
Please rejoice…I have given out with my family thousands of Million $ Bills…mostly face to face. Most were thankful that anyone gave anything…and if someone is in need we try to give food or anything to help.
"By whom do you cast out demons…
or by what means do you regularly "share the Gospel that leads to everlasting life?"
Please use whatever you have to the glory of God…Everything you type will be use against you on the day of judgement, as well.
Me too.
OMG somebody gave me and my husband and a freind we were talking to in a restaurant once.
He was an older guy, pushed them into our hands, mumbles "here" and hiigh tailed it out of there.
I actually just felt really bad for him (Maybe he heard DH and I discussing our non-Christian religious beliefs and/or had some sort of gaydar for our friend–he is pretty flamboyant!).
Anyway, I thought it was funny/sad/pathetic/sociologically fascinating… but it did not make me want to convert to Christianity. It just made more sort of sad that someone would have that much fear and narrow mindedness that they would have to resort to something like that.
Take from this story what you will.
I noticed a lot of people on here were upset when they received a tract because they thought it was "real" money, when really it wasn't. Don't forget the whole idea of a tract is to show how bad you are. So if you got upset and mad that you received fake money, rather than real money, then you should think on that. Read the back of the tract. There's a reason we hand them out. Also, it has done more good than bad. How many people do you see get saved because of these tracts? Even if only 1 person in the whole world got saved because of the thousand's of tracts we hand out, its better than zero. You said you haven't seen one been brought closer to God? Well guess what, there's been many brought to Christ because of these tracts. Please before you aer quick to judge, look at why we hand these out. Why hand out free money? Because money does not go to heaven with you. But the words behind the fake money we hand out can bring you to heaven. God Bless!