A different story to go along: When I was in the navy, it was very well known that I was an active Christian. One day while I was deployed, the mailroom called me in because they wanted to be discreet and protect my reputation. A package from "Chick" had arrived, and they believed it was porn. Wanting to protect me, they delivered it to me in private. I thanked them, opened the package in their presence, and they got the first tracts out of the package!
Unfortunate name for gospel tracts, I guess!!
:laugh::laugh: I never thought about a misunderstanding about being called "chick" tracts.
I would expect tracts have about the same impact direct mail advertising or street flyers have -- about 3-4% actually read and heed them. With tracts, it's probably even less, frankly, given the attitude of the general public toward Christian materials and the gospel.
Evangelism is personal. People are far more likely to discuss their eternal destiny with a friend than they are a stranger on the street. Tracts aren't personal, and usually wind up in the trash.
I'm sure there are people who have heeded the message of a tract. But not nearly as man as have come to Christ through having a personal relationship with a Christian friend.
I agree 100%. Passing out tracts is not witnessing, although someone may be reached through these tracts and they can be a good tool (some of them) in witnessing to others.
While it does appear to me that all of them present the gospel message (at the end, anyway), I would be afraid that the falseness of some of the tracts actually degrade the message presented at the conclusion. It appears that many of these create a false scenario based less on fact and more on conspiracy/sterotype/urban legend to scare people into reading the way of salvation at the end of the tract. This makes me cautious about the “good” ones as well. I guess of the evangelistic tools out there this is one of my least favorite, although I think I’ve read every one of them over the past few weeks. Many seem to target an audience that is beyond comics.