Churches and Haunted Houses

The other day, I saw a sign advertising "a live, multimedia, theatrical performance that will scare the 'Hell' out of you."  It wasn't your run-of-the-mill Halloween haunted house, it was actually a production put on by a local church, no doubt with the best of evangelistic intentions.

Though certainly not my cup of tea, my purpose here is not to out-and-out condemn this type of practice.  I would recommend though that before any church hosts such an event, they at least consider Russell Moore's thoughts as to why this type of outreach often misses the mark:

1. They’re not scary enough.
2. They assume people’s problem is that they don’t know about judgment.
3. They abstract judgment from the love of God. 
4. They abstract judgment from the glory of God. 
5. It’s hard to cry at a Judgment House. 
6. The Holy Spirit doesn’t usually like to work that way. 
7. They’re easier to pull off than talking to people.

Click here to read his entire post, in which he fleshes out each of the points.