Judgment House: Yay or Nay?

So, Halloween has come and gone which also means that many churches have completed their Trunk or Treats, Harvest Festivals, or Judgment House.  These are all ways that the church has attempted to minister to people around Halloween.  For those who are unfamiliar with Judgement House, here is a link to the organization that provides resources.

I have to say that I am biased against Judgement House because of an experience in another state.  However, I have to ask myself if this is the best way to share the gospel.  I know many people accept Christ, but do they fully understand what it means to follow Christ?  Has the fear of hell forced a decision?  The reason I am asking is because of cautions from pastors like Matt Chandler, David Platt and Kyle Idleman who wonder if we are getting people to simply say a prayer without understanding what it means to follow Christ? 

So, what are your thoughts?  Are you in favor or against churches hosting Judgement House?

Comments

  1. DerekNovember 5, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    J.L.,

    I want to commend you for taking what will probably be an unpopular stance on the whole "judgement house" thing. Unpopular because there will always be a huge majority of evangelicals who say, "How can you possibly be against something that generates so many 'decisions for Christ?'" The "get 'em in the lifeboat by whatever means possible" people need to go back and reconsider Jesus' words in Matthew 23:15.

    Since you asked for thoughts, here are my two cents.

    Any discussion must begin with Jesus' command in the Great Commission, which was "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

    1. Jesus' command was not to go and "scare people into the kingdom." I think if the Second Great Awakening teaches us anything it is that these "scare the hell out of people" tactics lead ultimately to hasty and unfruitful decisions based on nothing deeper than emotions ratcheted up to a fever pitch. The decisions didn't stick for the vast majority of those people and the east coast became (and still remains, to some extent) a spiritual "burned over district." Iain Murray's book "Revival and Revivalism" is ESSENTIAL on this topic. http://goo.gl/oxi02

    2. A "making a decision for Christ moment" really means very little without baptism, discipleship, mentoring, and the daily/monthly/yearly routine of "doing life" alongside other members of a local church. I grew up in the age of "let's show the youth group the 'Thief in the Night' video and drum up some decisions.'" The formula was simple. Show the movie and then "pressure the scared kids into "praying the sinner's prayer" after the movie ended. After that...nothing. I know this because I prayed a prayer after a showing of the movie. There was no follow-up with me. No explanation of what I had done. No talk of baptism. No talk of discipleship. No inquiries about whether I wanted to join the church. Nothing. It seems to me that "judgement house" is nothing more than the 21st Century version of the "Thief in the Night" movie--a phenomenon that tries to "scare people into the kingdom" by capitalizing on the love/hate relationship most people have with being scared.

    3. Let's say a church puts on a "judgement house" and takes 3,000 people through it. Of that 3,000 let's say 1,500 "make a decision for Christ." Furthermore, let's say that that church manages to baptize all 1,500 people in the coming weeks? Now what? That church has 1,500 new souls that need shepherding and discipling. Does that church have the leadership in place that could shepherd/disciple 1,500 new people? Does any church? Failure to disciple after baptizing is GROSS negligence on the part of a church.

    Cont'd...

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  2. DerekNovember 5, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    4. "Judgement house" affirms the old stereotype that evangelicals are a bunch of "bible thumpers" whose only narrative is the old "turn or burn" one. I think of C.S. Lewis' description of the early Protestants when he said, "Whatever they were, they were not sour, gloomy, or severe; nor did their enemies bring any such charge against them...a Protestant was one 'dronke of the new must of lewd lightness of minde and vayne gladness of harte.' Protestantism was not too grim, but too glad, to be true." As dearly beloved followers of King Jesus we should (of all people) be the ones displaying gladness, winsomeness, joy, laughter, feasting, and demonstrating a life that is not too grim but rather too glad to be true.

    5. Evangelicals are SO concerned about unbelievers knowing the "reason for the Christmas season" and that "Easter isn't about the easter bunny." I wish they would concern themselves just as much with the "true meaning of halloween." There is a true, Christian meaning to the holiday and James Jordan tells that story well in his article "Concerning Halloween" found here: http://goo.gl/QH1x.

    Lots more thoughts but that will do for now. Again, J.L. kudos for calling into question the whole "judgement house" thing.

    Derek Hale (Nicole's husband)
    Elder, Trinity Covenant Church (CREC)
    Wichita, KS

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