This sort of thing really seems self-destructive. How can someone believe they are doing a good thing through a “Hell House” ministry?

The perennial response seems to be “if one soul is saved…” But that won’t answer. We’re not only told to save souls; we’re told not to damn them. We forget this because we think there is an awful lot of damnation out there already. But who is to say that people who might be open to hearing the Gospel won’t be closed as a result of this rather offensive activity?

In other words, the success of “Hell House,” if there is any, is akin to the “success” of government programs that the politicians will brag about. After hampering the economy with taxation and barriers to free exchange, the government will then use a tiny percentage of the loot to create a token success. (“Look, we got Bass Pro to move into our town after promising them subsidies from the taxes of the nine smaller sports shops they are going to drive out of business. Isn’t it great what can happen when government and business work together?”) And so it is with obnoxious tactics. The Evangelist will, eventually, probably find a convert, and use him to justify all. He never has to account for the way he has sent ninety-nine others fleeing into the wild. Since Christianity expects some amount of opposition and persecution, the resulting offense can all be claimed as a result of faithfulness.

The success, no matter how paltry, is visible; and the damage, no matter how great, is not.