Yesterday I worked out at my health club. After my workout I saw a tract sitting on the bench by the lockers. I was tempted to pick it up, read it, and trash it if it was proclaiming a false gospel. But I just left it there.
While putting some pomade in my hair, I noticed a card beside the hairdryer in the sink area. In boldface, the business-card tract said Free Gift of Salvation. Then it listed five steps to receive the free gift.
Even before I started reading the five steps, I was confident that this tract would not actually be talking about a free gift. Five steps? Isn’t the only condition believing in the Giver, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the gift of God, everlasting life (John 4:10, 14)?
The five steps were actually six steps: admitting you are sinner, accepting that Jesus is Lord and God, accepting the free gift of salvation, repenting of your sins, being baptized, and living the rest of your life in fellowship with Jesus.
Salvation is hardly a free gift if you have to turn from your sins, be baptized, and live in fellowship with Christ for the rest of your life.
The card did not mention the words believe or faith or everlasting life.
Not one verse was quoted or even mentioned on the card.
(By the way, GES has its own gospel card. You can see the tract here. Ours quotes John 3:16; 6:47; and 11:25-26. The word believe occurs five times on our card, all in red. Everlasting life appears three times. We don’t mention repentance, baptism, or discipleship.)
I decided that it would be better to take that card so that no one would read it and be confused. It is now in my tract folder.
Do you think I did the right thing? Should I have left the card there, even though it presents a false gospel?i
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i We do not want people leaving our evangelistic card, tracts, booklets, or other materials sitting out in public places unless they have received permission to do so. Most places do not want unsolicited literature sitting around. We want people to give our literature directly to their friends and loved ones. That is much more effective.
