PlayStation 3 Evangelism

How greedy and twisted is society these days?  I read with disdain the predictable results of yesterday’s launch of the PlayStation 3 video game console by Sony.  USA Today has a pretty good synopsis of what happened across the country in today’s online edition.

So, one man gets shot while waiting in line.  Another is surrounded by five people minutes after buying his game system and has it taken from him.  Yet another had his face broken when he was shoved into a flagpole at a Milwaukee area Wal-Mart store while racing to get inside for a spot to purchase a machine.  There’s even video of the man hitting the pole available for viewing!  These are just a few of the scattered stories I’m reading as I scan the internet this morning.  On our local radio station, one man who purchased a PlayStation 3 was interviewed moments after buying it and essentially said he was going to put the machine up on E-bay so some sugar daddy could buy his spoiled brat kid the machine at an inflated price and take care of some of the man’s outstanding bills.  Well you certainly can’t fault him for taking advantage of capitalism but I just had to shake my head as I was traveling on the highway listening to this.

I guess I’m just cheap.  I’ll wait for a while for the machine to saturate the market and then I’ll buy one when it’s hundreds less, the games are plentiful, and I don’t have to worry about some man taking it from me at gunpoint as I leave the store.  I guess nothing was learned by similar incidents when the XBox 360 was released at this time last year.

All of this led me to this thought: What would happen if the church was this excited about sharing the gospel with people?  What could happen in our communities if Christians took even a slice of the unruly energy of this malaise, shaped it for good, and went out with reckless abandon to reach people for Christ?  Our communities would overflow with new converts, churches would see a surge in attendance, lives would be changed, and heaven would welcome new converts.  The funny thing is, we have something to share with the world much more valuable than a PlayStation 3 and it doesn’t require people to stand in line though a cold night or spend hundreds for what will be limited satisfaction.  Eternal life is free if we just reach out and take it.  For the cost of one PlayStation 3, you could purchase 1200 New Testaments from the ESV Bible folks and give them to people who desperately need the Word of God in their lives.  If just one percent of those reached with these bibles gave their hearts to Christ you’ve reached twelve new families who will reach others.  What an awesome revival that could take place in our nation if we just quit focusing on the things WE want, and focus on what Christ wants.

The PlayStation 3 can wait another year or so.  I have to go tell someone about Christ today.