Super Bowl Salvation

Photo by Scott Nellis

Street preachers....oh, how I loathe thee. As I walked through downtown Indianapolis, I saw a spattering of these pharisaical evangelists with their megaphones and brimstone signs. Indy's Super Bowl Village was the prime spot for these opportunistic preachers to do their thing.

Disgrace. And un-grace, too.

It's hard to fathom that people still believe that condemnation and judgment trump sincere love. I suppose these gentlemen feel that their duty as Christians is to take the Saul-of-Tarsus approach and convict people of their sinfulness, lest they end up in hell. But street signs and megaphones? Really? I've read my gospels, and I don't remember Jesus ever using those tactics. I wanted to tell them that I'm about to enter seminary and I've committed most of the sins on their sign. Then I wanted to ask them where that left me. Doomed to hell? I know this: there was no mention of forgiveness, grace, or love. They surely have missed the point.

It's kind of pointless to write and rant about such things. These guys have always been around, and always will be around. But still... They don't honestly think that soapboxing in Super Bowl Village is going to win any souls? Apparently they do.