All people, but especially young people, have very pliable and receptive minds. Fill your children’s minds with the thought that God does not exist and that all Christians are fools, and as a result, a generation of discriminators is born. Or tell them constantly that God is awfully harsh and very holy and that they have little chance to be saved: you are then creating an indifferent or depressed type of person. Another way in which young people can be influenced is by establishing great security in their lives. This can be done by telling them that Jesus loves them, and that God will help them if they will only accept Him. You are then making people who, in their opinion, are a fine sort of people; responsible, sheep of the Lord Jesus, and in their own minds, they are most certainly going directly into heaven when they die.

You may be in favor of this last thought. But is it honest to brainwash people? No. Marketing in the church is an awful thing. How can a church preach honesty and integrity and then manipulate people to join their church?

Some people are very open to the best and most comforting messages, but they fool themselves. Yet, for many others this is too cheap. This past week I spoke with a fellow airline passenger. This sales manager was disheartened with the churches because of their attempts to lure the people with all kinds of ‘good-sounding’ messages. He himself had been raised in a church where there was much interaction, choir- singing, incense, etc, and he was disillusioned by it.

Dear reader, what you need is clear information. The information of the Bible, plain and direct, with no icing, no veneer. Never let people talk you into any type of faith. It is a shame that many vulnerable people are so easily deceived by a soothing word. Of course, people need warmth and fellowship, but we must be cautious that this is not what holds or brings them to the church. We need to use honesty and simplicity, always telling the truth.

Therefore, worship-services with entertainment are not what God desires. He alone wishes to be served and He does not want people to be occupied and happy with themselves and their own inventions. We need God-directed preaching, a plain and simple explanation of the Bible. And if that is not satisfactory, that is certainly too bad. But playing on the emotions or forcing people into a buy is not pleasing to God. The apostles and prophets of the Bible were different. They were always straightforward in their message.

What does it come down to? We must repent and realize that we cannot do any good of ourselves, that we are completely dead in sins and trespasses and that we need the quickening Spirit in order to be raised from the dead. We must learn to repent with a broken heart. We must truly feel that we have sinned against all the commandments of God and that we have not kept one of them. We must realize that we are prone to all evil. Therefore, we need to flee as a desperate sinner to Christ and take refuge in Him and really get to know Him. Dear reader, be realistic, come down to earth and do not give anyone a chance to brainwash you. Deal honestly with yourself.

And behind that losing of yourself lies the gain. What a surprising miracle then that a sinner can be saved! All honour to God for His inexpressible grace.