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

Let’s pick up where we left off with our dissection of a gospel tract I received from a well-meaning older gentleman a few months ago. In the first part of this blog, we focused on how marketing professionals use benefits rather than features to sell a product or service, and this strategy is also used for evangelism. 

This week, I’d like to focus on two additional strategies:

1. Scare Tactics and Urgency

2. Frictionless Experiences and Oversimplification

Scare Tactics and Urgency

Marketers appeal to your pain points and fears. We find your bruises and press on them, rub salt in your wounds, and then kiss them better. We generate a fear of missing out by using terms like “Today Only!”, “Last Call!”, and “Only X Remaining!”

These tactics are pushy at best and deceptive at worst. Sale dates are often arbitrary, and there is no governing body to ensure limited stock is actually limited. These are just words strung together to create emotion that drives action. 

Unfortunately, this is one of the most prevalent tactics I see used in gospel tracts. Rather than focusing on God’s love—the overarching theme of scripture and essential nature of God Himself (1 John 4:8; 4:16)—these materials focus on His wrath and use the threats of imminent death and eternal pain and suffering to spur people to action. 

We know from scripture that God himself does not use these types of scare tactics—at least not in the same way. In Song of Solomon, God is described as a bridegroom to whom people are naturally drawn—he is desirable to the point of intoxication. People can’t help but follow him. This is not a submission out of fear, but rather out of a desire to be in his presence.

In the New Testament, Jesus does use urgency to call people to repentance, but he does this because he doesn’t want us to miss out on the full presence and love of God. He wants us to live in alignment with who we were created to be—image bearers of God himself. 

So then, what is the difference between the urgency used in gospel tracts and the urgency displayed by Christ? Jesus is pushing us toward someone—the someone who is the source of all goodness—rather than pulling us away from something. 

Jesus is pushing us toward someone—the someone who is the source of all goodness—rather than pulling us away from something. 

Frictionless Experiences and Oversimplification

Another major component of marketing and sales is creating a frictionless experience for customers. The more steps someone has to take to complete something, the less likely they are to follow through. Consider how inconvenient it is to pay with cash or a check these days. Even swiping or inserting a credit card is being replaced by the faster, easier tap-to-pay feature. 

Some things in life require friction, and I think faith is one of them. 

Evangelism has boiled salvation down into a single moment. A single decision. And a single prayer. 

Dear Lord. I know that I am a sinner, but I am sorry for my sins. I believe that the Lord Jesus died for me and rose again, and with all my heart, I turn from my sin and receive Him as my Savior right now. Thank you, Lord, for saving me! Amen.

If you grew up in the Evangelical church, this prayer is familiar to you. You’ve probably prayed it multiple times and likely heard it in church at least once a month. 

This is the prayer used to convert nonbelievers. It’s used to determine metrics—with heads bowed and eyes closed, raise your hand if you said the prayer and accepted Jesus into your heart. Those hands are counted and celebrated as souls saved. 

Perhaps you said this prayer at Vacation Bible School, church camp, or a Christian rock concert. Perhaps you said it in church, with the little old man who gave you a gospel tract, or after calling that number on the billboard on the side of I-85 when you were having a bad day.

How many times did you say it after that first time? Two or three? A dozen? More?

This oversimplification makes it easy to track conversions on paper, but it’s not an effective way to bring about change. Faith, repentance, and submission to the Lordship of Christ are lifelong processes—always in progress, never complete in this life. Only when we stand face-to-face with Christ in the arms of eternity will we experience wholeness.  

I don’t think Jesus tracks his return on investment—he died while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). He sacrificed himself for the glory of God and as an outpouring of his love for us, not because he requires us to respond in a certain way. Many people choose not to accept the gift of grace, yet he still offers it, despite the cost.

Next week, I want to touch on one final marketing strategy—if you want to call it that. It’s what Christ did and what he commanded us to do. And it’s not something you can track with dashboards or spreadsheets.