This is the form of Christianity that exists within the majority of North American churches. Many individuals have been sold a Jesus and Christianity, or a concept of Jesus and Christianity, that is unbiblical and untrue. The "Your Best Life Now" movement is rooted in salesmanship Christianity, turning Jesus into some commodity only as a means of making your life better. Anyone who has ever read the New Testament will know that this is not the Jesus or the Christianity presented in the Bible. This is what North American Christianity has come down to. It is no longer a matter of preaching the Law and the Gospel in order to convict sinners of their sinful ways and their need for a Saviour through repentance and faith; it has come down to selling people a Jesus or Christianity not found in the Scriptures in order to make false claims as to the number of people saved by these evangelists or organizations.
Altar calls, asking Jesus into your heart, making a "decision" for Christ, praying the "Sinner's Prayer," walking an aisle, signing a card, etc., etc., etc.; these are all methods of salesmanship Christianity, Pope-ishly declaring individuals as having been saved of whom the Lord Jesus has not saved or has not yet saved. We cannot tell someone they are now a Christian just because they did something. That is leading them into a life of self-righteousness. Yes, sometimes an individual is saved in spite of these methods, but none of these methods is what we find presented in God's Word.
The message of the cross is foolishness. God has chosen this method as His means of saving sinners. When professing Christians alter this method in favour of their own corrupt method, thinking it better, they are themselves confessing that they find God's method to be foolishness. They think themselves wiser than God. All we are to do is faithfully preach the Law and the Gospel, commanding sinners to repent and believe, and leave the rest up to God. God knows those He will save; we do not. When we try to force a conversion, thinking it is up to us to convert a soul, we are creating false converts and damning them to hell because of our own ignorance and stupidity.
Stop trying to sell Jesus and Christianity to those who are perishing! Preach the Law and the Gospel, precisely as Jesus and the Apostles did (e.g., Matt. 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-34), commanding sinners to repent and believe, and leave the salvation of sinners in the capable hands of Almighty God. The salvation of a soul is not left to us. This is God's realm. You and I can preach to every individual on this planet until we are blue in the face and we will never convert a single soul. God is in control of the conversion of lost souls. Let us not try to fill God's shoes by placing ourselves in His position. Let us stick to what He has called us to do, preaching the foolish message of the cross, whether we understand God's method or not.
Who convicts men of sin, righteousness, and judgment? The Holy Spirit! Not us, and certainly not our rhetoric. We are simply to answer them with the truth and leave the rest to God. Most people, including many professing Christians, will readily admit they are sinners, but have no clue why they are a sinner or what makes them a sinner because the Law has never been preached to them. Their idea of a testimony and being a sinner is doing something extreme like being a drunkard, a drug addict, a prostitute, or something like that. Even if you have never done any of those types of extreme things, God has still saved you from something. Examine the Ten Commandments and I guarantee that you, like myself, have broken all of them. You may not have physically murdered someone (I have not), but what did Jesus say? If you hate someone, you are guilty of murder. Why? Because it comes from the same source. If you look at a man or woman with lust, you are already guilty of committing adultery because it comes from the same source. When you preach the Law, people understand why they are sinners and what makes them sinners. Then, and only then, can you preach the Gospel. It makes no sense to offer someone a cure to a disease they are not convinced that they have.
Jesus is not a commodity. Anyone who has "accepted" Jesus or "made a decision" for Jesus based on some salesmanship-type pitch is destined to an eternity in Hell, and the person who sold them this pitch is guilty for it and has their blood on his/her hands. Jesus showed us how to do it and told us how to do it. But certain professing Christians think Jesus' method is foolish, and so they try to come up with their own, thinking themselves wiser than God. Preach the Law and the Gospel and leave the conversion of lost souls to the Holy Spirit, Who convicts men and women of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
Jesus is not a commodity. Anyone who has "accepted" Jesus or "made a decision" for Jesus based on some salesmanship-type pitch is destined to an eternity in Hell, and the person who sold them this pitch is guilty for it and has their blood on his/her hands. Jesus showed us how to do it and told us how to do it. But certain professing Christians think Jesus' method is foolish, and so they try to come up with their own, thinking themselves wiser than God. Preach the Law and the Gospel and leave the conversion of lost souls to the Holy Spirit, Who convicts men and women of sin, righteousness, and judgment.