The Problem with Salvation

The problem with salvation (read: God’s grace) is its accessibility. It is simply too accessible. “In 1975, researchers Worchel, Lee, and Adewole wanted to know how people would value cookies in two identical glass jars. One jar held ten cookies while the other contained just two stragglers. Which cookies would people value more? Though the cookies and jars were identical, participants valued the ones in the near-empty jar more highly. Scarcity had somehow affected their perception of value.[1]”

Psychology and business have proved that if you create scarcity in a product or service, it will instantly become more desirable. Unfortunately, receiving grace from God has become as easy as finding a book at the public library. (Not a Christian book, though. Just any old book…) It’s free for the taking. The apostle Paul and his companion, Silas, in the book of Acts, tells a jailer that if he “believes on the Lord Jesus Christ[2]” he would be saved. Later, Paul claims that people are saved “by grace through faith[3].” With salvation so easy to get, it’s no wonder Christianity is becoming increasingly unpopular.

I propose that we make salvation harder to get. Let’s have all the Christians keep the message of the gospel to themselves. This way born-again believers can fade into a comfortable, more desirable, minority.

[1] http://www.nirandfar.com/2013/07/psychology-of-scarcity.html

[2] Acts 16:31 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+16%3A31&version=NKJV)

[3] Ephesians 2:8 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians+2%3A8&version=NKJV)