Okay, so it’s not shampoo, but I wanted to point this out and then forgot about it when I was posting yesterday’s update. Maybe it’s a mental block because I also celebrated my birthday during my recent blog convalescence (or whatever that was). And one of my gifts was an EvangeCube.
No, really.
It was. And when you stop laughing, I’ll have to tell you that I was… well, speechless. Doesn’t happen a lot, but there it was, me with nothing to say. Totally dumbfounded. Had it been intended as a gag gift, I’d have known better how to react. Alas…
Anyway, there was a url printed on the cube: www.e3resources.org, and I had to look. (You would have too, believe me.) And I discovered, right there in the website banner across the top: “Your Missional Church Resources” . What was I worried about? It’s missional, after all. And not only that, it says this is “where every purchase advances missions around the world.” Makes me want to line up and spend away!
Not.
But now if I ever need a greeting card with an encoded “Gospel message,” I’ll know where to go. These people are “The Supply Line to the Front Line”. Though somehow I’ve just never been really into that conk-them-over-the-head kind of missional. Because I always figured it simply wasn’t. But it kinda brings back to mind the whole crusade about trying to get people to use the word properly. Maybe that’s what wore me out, because it evidently isn’t working too well.
Totally get your gag reflex on the EvangeCube thing. Felt the same way until I went with a group to a foreign country into very remote areas a few years ago and saw the power of this little tool as we went with translators who used this little tool to tell the simple story of the gospel to many who had never really heard it before.
That being said, I don’t think i’d use it in urban centers or in most of countries that have been “christianized”. But the context of the place determines the “missionality” of the tool, program etc.
Just a thought…
Although I do get that this sort of thing can be helpful in explaining the Gospel to people who haven’t heard it before and may not speak the same language as you, I still feel like if you’re going to bring something make it vaccines, clean water, and sacrificial love – that will get the message across louder and clearer.
The great thing about the Evangecube is that it actually helps (A) people to understand the simple facts of the gospel, and (B) gets Christians past their tongue-tied-ness about being clear with said gospel message.
Many of our students use these cubes as we are a regular — dare I say “missional” — presence among the poor, the homeless, and the addicted in Tijuana’s Zona Norte here in Mexico.
To students who don’t like the approach of the cube, I simply encourage them to find their own preferred method to share the same story of Jesus and salvation. Because proclaiming the message isn’t optional — just our choice of methods.
And unlike you, Brother Maynard, I haven’t visited the website, nor do I intend to. :)
The cube itself can be debated in its usefulness, etc. The marketing on the site? shudder…
Haven’t seen this particular cube but I love the cubes themselves. I would like to incorporate them into some sort of training I do sometimes down the road. I think I saw my first cube like this… it was a give away with a kids meal from Burger King I think.
Those cubes have lots of potential for lots of things I think. E.
“Down for Maintenance
Our e3 Resources website is currently unavailable. We will be launching our brand new (very cool) website within the next day or so! For all orders, please call us at 1.888.354.9411 and we will gladly serve you!
We apologize for any inconvenience caused. “
I can’t believe I’m just now finding out what an EvangeCube is. I have to admit, I have a similar response to them as you do. However, if it works for someone else and inspires them, then…so be it. I can’t be one to say that something is dumb or worthless, particularly when there are others that see the worth in that thing.