The Anecdote

by Ray Comfort, WOTM Ministries

The issue of modern evangelism chose to attract sinnners, the issue was of life enhancement. The gospel degenerated into; Jesus will give you peace, joy, love, fulfilment and lasting happiness. To illustrate the unscriptural nature of this very popular teaching, listen very carfeully to this important antidote. The illustration pivots on this teaching.

Anecdote
Two men are seated on a plane. The first is given a parachute to improve his flight. He's a little sceptical at first because he can't see how putting on a parachute can possibly improve a flight. After time he decides to experiment to see that the claim is true. As he puts it on he notices the weight upon his shoulders and he finds he has difficulty sitting up right. However he consoles himself with the fact that the parachute would improve the flight. So he decides to give the thing a little time. As he waits, he notices some the other passengers are laughing at him because he is wearing a parachute on a plane. He begins to feel somewhat humiliated. As they begin to point and laugh at him, he can stand it no longer. He sinks into his seat, unstraps the parachute and throws it to the floor. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart because as far as he was concerned he was told an out right lie.

The second man was given a parachute, but listen was he's told. He's told to put it on because at any moment he will be jumping 25,000 feet out of the plane. He greatfully puts the parachute on, he doesn't notice the weight upon his shoulders, nor can he stand up right. His mind is consumed with the thought what might happen to him if he jumped without that parachute.

Let's analyse the motive and the result of each passengers experience. The first mans motive of the parachute on was to souly to improve his flight. The result of his experience was that he was humiliated by the passengers, he was disillusioned and somewhat inbittered against those people who gave him the parachute. As far as he is concerned, it'll be a long time before anyone gets one of those things on his back again.
The second man put the parachute on souly to escape the jump to come. And because of his knowledge of what would happen to him with out it. He has a deep rooted joy and peace in his heart knowing that he is safe from sure death. This knowledge gives him the ability to withstand the mockeritity of the other passengers. His attitude towards those who gave him the parachute is one of heart felt gratitude.

Now, listen to what the modern gospel says. It says put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He will give you love, joy, peace, fulfilment, and lasting happiness. In other words, Jesus improve your flight. So the sinner responds and in an experimental fasion puts on the savior to see if the claims are true. And what does he get? He gets temptations, tribulation, and prosecution. The other passengers mock him. So what does he do? He takes off the Lord Jesus Christ, he offended for the words sake, he's disillusioned, and somewhat imbittered and quite rightly so. He was promised peace, joy, love, fulfilment and lasting happiness. And all he got were trials and humiliation. As bitterness is directed on the so-called “good news.” As later aim becomes worse than the first; another inoculated and bitter backslider.

Peace and joy are legitimate fruits of salvation. But it's not legitimate to use these fruits as a draw card for salvation. If we continue to do so, sinners will respon with impure motive lacking repentence.
Now, can you remember why the second passenger had peace and joy in his heart? Because he knew that parachute was going to safe him from sure death.

Paul said: I have the joy and peace in believing because I know the righteousness of Christ will deliver me from the wraths to come.

Now, if we look on an incident onboard our plane, we have a brand new flight attendant. She's carrying a tray of boiling hot coffee. It's her first day and she wants leave a lasting impression on the passengers and she certainly does. Because as she's walking down the isle, she trips over a someones foot and spills all that boiling hot coffee on the lap of our second passenger. Now once the reaction of that boiling hot coffee hits his tender flesh, does he go “damn that hurt!” Mmhmm! He feels the pain. But does he rip the parachute from off his shoulders and say “stupid parachute!”? No. Why should he? He didn't put the parachute on for a better flight. He put it on to save him from the jump to come. If anything, the hot coffee incident causes him cling tighter to the parachute and even look forward to the jump.