Evangelism: The “do you want to go to Heaven when you die” approach

The “do you want to go to Heaven when you die” approach was used by Jack Hyles on May 3, 1998, when he claimed that more people were saved then than on the day of Pentecost. Hyles preached a message titled “A Place Called Heaven.” His text was John 14:1-6, which, of course, is addressed to believers, not unbelievers. After preaching on Heaven, he told the crowd, “If you have the least desire to go to Heaven, if there’s just a little bit of a desire to go to Heaven, then this morning, you trust Jesus as your Saviour.”

I am completely flabbergasted by the churches that still run the Hyles playbook page by page. It seems that very few people take any time to research the resources they use, or compare their veracity with Scripture, and what’s worse, they pass the stuff on to the next unsuspecting joe. I guess before the forwarded email, there was the book or message recommended by Dr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk5EkipPxN8] Samuel J. Snodgrass , and since Dr. Sam is such a swell fellow, no one bothers to check anything out for themselves.

It’s fine to want to trust people, but it is still our responsibility to do our own thinking.

For once I agree with David Cloud!

…but no one wanna go now!

Kenny Chesney http://youtu.be/u6MqUqtTlLI

Warning: watch at your own discretion

Filmed in Jamaica, my home country (BMM-MK, TCK)

“My dear friend, everybody wants to go to heaven. They just don’t want God to be there when they get there.”

http://chrisquinlan.blogspot.com/2008/11/one-of-my-favorite-paul-washer…

from the sermon transcribed here:

http://adidab.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/paul-washer-transcript-03-ten-in…

I use the question all the time, in another form: “If you were to die today, do you know that you will go to heaven?” Frankly, I find it quite effective. It gets people serious when talking about God’s salvation. People can debate with you all day long about God, the Bible, who was Jesus, etc. When the subject becomes personal the conversation changes. I have rarely had anyone walk away from an evangelistic conversation when I use this question. You will also find it in Bill Fay’s book: Share Jesus without fear

Is it biblical? Yes. Jesus contrasts “entering into life” with “eternal fire” (Matt 18:8-9), and leaves people with a choice. He told Nicodemus he could not see the Kingdom of God without being reborn, and so forth. If we do not believe that people go either to heaven or hell after they die, then of course, this is not a good question to ask. But most orthodox people do.

Does everyone want to go to heaven? No. I have talked with plenty of athiests, agnostics, pantheists, Marxists, Satanists, Buddhists, and party-goers who do not. But even many of these get interested in the subject when the issue becomes heaven or hell.

No. Eternal life is received immediately, and is not equal with “going to heaven.”

Since “teenage-hood” I have been sensitive to these cliches and wrong teachings which do nothing but cloud the Gospel (at the very least) and possibly give false hope by giving assurance to salvation based upon promises God never gave. From “ask Jesus into your heart” to “call upon the name of the Lord” to “open the door of your heart” to “make Jesus the Lord of your life” each is a distortion or departure from “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” The Bible is very clear that sin is the issue (Rom 3:23) bringing condemnation from a holy God (Rom 6:23), and that Jesus’ payment (Rom 5:8) is the only way to be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20-21). the Bible is also abundantly clear that salvation is through belief in God’s promises alone, from Genesis 15:6 onward.

The issue is not “where will we spend eternity,” but “Who we have been separated from because of our sin.” Though using such a question might help analyze the view of one you are talking to, it is not the approach of anyone in Scripture, and not the focus of the Gospel (1 Cor 15:1-4). Our sin, and God’s Solution for it are core to the Gospel.

Go to your church “tract rack” and pick up one of each. Compare the steps, prayers, etc. each offers as the way to salvation. You will be shocked, and then you will begin to understand how the Church struggles to be sanctified, since the Gospel is the core and content of spiritual maturity.

jhowell, I understand your point. The verbiage police hopefully don’t beat people up for speaking in such terms (though even Paul talked about “being with Christ” as opposed to “going to heaven” - Phil 1:23). We do look to heaven (Heb 10:34; 1 Pet 1:4; Phil 3:20) because of Who and what awaits us there.

The point is that it is not the purpose of salvation to secure heaven for anyone, but to have the righteousness of God imputed to us by faith (2 Cor 5:21). The Gospel is not “heaven for you” but “sins forgiven through Christ” and “be reconciled to God.”

The danger is approaching people with an inaccurate purpose (heaven can be yours) with an inaccurate path (“pray this prayer,” etc.) and thereby giving people false hope. Without understanding their sin, the Savior’s identity, and the substitutionary payment and resurrection, heaven is a mirage.

I want to go to heaven too. ;>D

In all the constant talk about going to heaven when we die, we often forget about what comes after heaven: a new heaven and a new earth. Heaven sounds good and appealing. But I think what we all are longing for deep down is not just heaven, but heaven on earth. We wait for the resurrection of our bodies, on earth, forever. As I look around at our culture, it’s full of hints that we want new and optimized bodies in a radically renovated creation. Just look at super-hero movies, or sci-fi thrillers like Superman and Star Wars for starters. God holds out, in Christ, the promise to fullfil the best of our desires. We have a God-shaped hole in us, and part of that hole is a godly longing for our true home.

Orthodox Premillenial, Post-millenial and Amillienial views all agree to this point.

So if we’re going to appeal to non-Christians on basis of the glory Christ offers, let’s give them the whole picture of what Christ offers. He is both true and beautiful.

Right now I am reading Scot McKinght’s new book “The King Jesus Gospel” and this is one the false ideas about getting saved and the gospel that he aims at. It’s a very enlightening read as a number of the things he goes after I was taught as a kid - getting saved is all about going to heaven to be with Jesus.

How about the EE approach. It starts with the question, “If you were to stand before God and He should ask you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say.” It then goes to the first part of the gospel presentation which is that heaven is God’s free gift, then it transitions from that into God’s holiness, man’s sinfulness, the work of Christ and faith.

How do you engage an unbeliever on his need to be reconciled to God without emphasizing that there are eternal consequences-heaven and hell? A gosepl presentation isn’t just “Do you want to go to heaven? If so, then pray this prayer.” But I think it is surely a great way to get a gospel conversation started.

BTW, RC Sproul worked with EE years ago to come up with the diagnostic questions they use in teaching laypeople the EE method of evangelism.

Simplicity is your friend! There is no wrong reason for trusting Christ for salvation.

Is it right to believe unto salvation……..
…so that you can go to Heaven?
…so that you escape the torment of Hell?
…so that you can be with Jesus who you love?
…so that you can have the Holy Spirit’s indwelling to overcome a sin bondage?
…so that you can have peace in your life and family?
…because you recognize the kingship and sovereignty of Christ?
…because it is a rational response and other courses are simply wrong?

ABSOLUTELY to any or all of the above!!

Just like the answer to the various forms of “What shall I do to be saved?” provides a myriad of differing specifics with the same Gospel message (Mk. 10:17-21; John 6:28-29; Acts 2:37-38; Acts 9:6FF; Acts 16:30), so the specifics that God uses to draw sinners to salvation are equally diverse. It is a God thing whether one responds to a desire for Heaven, fear of Hell, rationally, emotionally, or whatever.

Let’s not put God in a box He hasn’t created for Himself.