Selling Salvation: The One Thing You Can’t Die Without — Part I

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is a fever dream incarnate. From one aisle to the next, there’s no rhyme or reason to what’s for sale. It’s not unusual to find protein Poptarts stocked next to the curling irons.

I had just placed three bottles of sugar-free coffee syrup in my shopping cart when I ran into a little old man who could have been Ollie himself. Liver spots dotted his balding head, and wisps of snow-white hair sprang from his scalp. He smelled of mothballs.

“Young lady, I have something for you,” he said through a wet cough.

I don’t usually accept gifts from unknown men, but he looked innocent enough—almost grandfatherly. So I stopped and gave him my attention. He slipped a small rectangle of paper into my hand, a little larger than a credit card. 

“God loves you.” He smiled, silver fillings sparkling under the fluorescent lights. 

I peered down at the tract in my hand, the words HOW TO BE SAVED AND KNOW IT glaring up at me in blood-red caps.

I’m no stranger to gospel tracts. Having grown up in the Southern Baptist Church, I remember seeing racks of them and other evangelism tools in the church lobby. The Baptist church down the street from my house has a free coffee drive-thru every Tuesday morning, and they include a goodie bag packed with mints, stickers, and a gospel tract with every cup of joe.

I didn’t think much about these booklets until I started working in marketing. They weren’t for me. I’m the Protestant equivalent of a Cradle Catholic—I’ve been in church since birth.

Looking at gospel tracts now, I see them for what they are—marketing tools. 

Benefits and Features

One of the first things I learned as a copywriter was how to sell using benefits. When writing about a product or service, it’s easy to list its features—objective characteristics. But when there are dozens of options with the same features, benefits are the differentiating factor. Benefits showcase how something will make you feel, how it will change your life—they tell you what you’ll get out of the investment. Benefits give you a reason to care.

Benefits showcase how something will make you feel, how it will change your life—they tell you what you’ll get out of the investment. Benefits give you a reason to care.

Many gospel tracts, including the one shared above, focus on the benefits of becoming a Christian—namely that you are saved from hell through faith in Jesus Christ. Thinking of Christianity in terms of features vs. benefits looks something like this.

Features	Benefits
Jesus died on the cross, received the punishment for sin, and saved all of mankind.	I can claim salvation through Jesus Christ, so I don’t receive eternal punishment in hell.
Jesus died on the cross, rose again three days later, and ascended to heaven, leaving his followers with the Holy Spirit.	I can be filled with the Holy Spirit and demonstrate the same signs and wonders Christ did while he walked on Earth.
At the end of time, Jesus will destroy sin and death once and for all and usher in a new heaven and a new earth.	I get to be with Jesus in heaven forever and live in a city paved with streets of gold.

Notice that the features are about Jesus, but the benefits focus on the self. Benefits are all about what you can get out of something—not about the intrinsic value of the thing itself.

Scripture tells us that God is worthy of all glory, honor, and power (Revelation 4:11). All things come from God, and he deserves the credit for every blessing (Romans 11:36). We should worship God because He is God—he is steadfast and faithful (Psalm 115:1).

Focusing only on the benefits takes Christ’s message, which is both universal and personal, and reduces it to what it can do for the individual. When we stop there, we strip away the ultimate purpose—the glory of God—in favor of a self-serving message.

Focusing only on the benefits takes Christ’s message, which is both universal and personal, and reduces it to what it can do for the individual.

I understand why this approach is so popular. It’s appealing and makes Christianity look like an easy purchase, leading to more conversions. But it turns lifelong investment into a cheap transaction—as easy to dispose of as it is to acquire (more on this later). 

When Jesus commanded his followers to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20), he didn’t arm them with saddlebags of gospel tracts and pocket New Testaments. He didn’t view them as a marketing team. 

He taught them how to love people with a pure love and commanded them to go and teach others how to do the same. A disciple is a learner, follower, or apprentice of a teacher. To make disciples is to build relationships, and slipping a piece of paper into someone’s hand or sharing a personal testimony with a stranger is not making disciples, no matter how well-intended.

These acts can be the starting point, but they should not be the only interaction. Focusing on the benefits of Christianity can be a starting point, but they are not the destination.

And if benefits aren’t enough to persuade, many evangelism strategies turn to something else: urgency and fear.

Read Part II >