From a footnote in Why Johnny Can’t Sing Hymns:
I am unaware of any contest for “worst expression ever added to the church’s vocabulary”. If there were such a contest, however, my nomination would be this: reaching people for Christ. This ambiguous expression (which never appears in Scripture) is redolent with positive connotative content, whle being surprisingly bereft of much denotative value (what does it mean, anyway?). Who could be opposed to reaching people for Christ? Yet what does reach mean? Does it mean any sort of contact that has any vestige of religious content? Driving on Route 128 north of Boston one day, I was startled when a car passed me on the left, then without signaling immediately swerved in front of me, requiring me to hit the brakes. This vehicle displayed a bumper sticker: “Honk if you love Jesus.” Well, I did honk, and I do love Jesus, but I still wish he had “reached me for Christ” by another method than that of almost causing an accident. (pg.149)
The book spends a good deal of time examining the cultural fascination with everything contemporary and new. Gordon is not against everything new . He questions both the idea that new means better and also the value of expressions that are produced by a culture permeated with sentimental, banal and transitory values.
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