Avoiding Self-Help Evangelism

In many ways, Christianity doesn't work. It has ruined some crafty businessmen like Zacchaeus, who, by becoming a Christian, ended up giving half his estate to the poor and paying back those he had cheated four times the amount he had stolen....

I'm not even sure that Christianity works if the goal is happiness. There are deeply satisfying feelings I have of being secure, at peace, close to God. But there are also deeply troubling feelings. There are deeply disturbing times of wrestling with a God who reveals himself as someone other than the God I would like to worship. And there are times when the gospel's implications force me to enter a period of intense internal struggle.

I remember hearing preachers say that non-Christians are unhappy and unfulfilled, while Christians are "victorious" and "happy in the Lord." But that isn't always true.
I know non-Christians who are very happy. In fact, it is their contentedness which leads them to avoid discussions of religion. They don't think they need it.

If we seek to justify Christianity on pragmatic grounds, ours will continue to be just another
self-help, self-improvement program.

--Michael Horton, Made in America