Killer Evangelism

How far should a church go to bring people in its doors? This is a question being asked in response to churches holding Halo 3 tournaments as a means of getting a new demographic to darken their doors. A recent article in The New York Times, Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except in a Game at Church says of this phenomenon:

Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.

The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.

Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo — despite its “thou shalt kill” credo — celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men.

This is what is called in some church circles a side door event. Get people into the building for some other purpose and then connect them to the congregation and to God. I can see how a Halo night might bring people in, but would it really help them get connected to a church in a meaningful way? My take is that it is a long shot. What do you think?