Hemant Mehta - I Sold My Soul on eBay

Praise for

I Sold My Soul on eBay

What will strike you in the pages of this book is that Hemant isnt angry or antagonistic. As you try to figure out what exactly his agenda is, youll probably arrive at the same conclusion I did. I think hes simply after the truth.

R OB B ELL , teaching pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church and author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God

Hemant Mehta, the self-proclaimed friendly atheist, gives us a third-eye view of how evangelical churches appear to the unchurched. I found myself intrigued and sometimes amused as he explained why churches keep atheists out instead of bringing them in. (By the way, you dont have to agree with everything Hemant says. He certainly doesnt agree with everything you and I say.)

R ANDY F RAZEE , teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church and author of The Connecting Church and Making Room for Life

Sometimes the emperor just forgets to put on his shirt. But lets admit it: sometimes he really is naked. Hemant is the honest voice at the side of the parade, giving us a rare take on how our weekly gatherings really come off to nonbelievers. Its hilarious. Its excruciating. But most of all, its honest. That alone makes this book a keeper.

S ALLY M ORGENTHALER , author, and founder of Worship Evangelism (www.trueconversations.com)

If you work in a church, attend a church, or are interested in how a person without religion thinks, youll want to read this book.

M ARK P AROLINI , in Aspiring Retail

When a normal, nonbelieving guy like Hemant offers to honestly evaluate Christians as we work with those who dont think like we do, we should take notice. This book helps Christians find ways to better attract and love the growing number of people who arent buying the Christian party line but who are honestly searching for answers.

D R . T IM H ARLOW , senior pastor of Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, Illinois

I winced, I laughed, and I learned as I read Hemants descriptions of his visits to churches around the country. This book is a gift to all of us who seek to reach and engage those beyond our four walls. It changed the way I preached yesterday, and I suspect there will be more changes as I work out the implications for our church.

R EV . L AURA T RUAX , senior pastor of LaSalle Street Church in Chicago

As I read Hemants observations about the good, the bad, and the ugly of church, I couldnt help but notice how often I agreed with him. I was stunned to find an atheist who seems to understand the inclusive, life-changing, and world-serving mission of the church better than some Christians do. Read this book with an open mind and a willingness to learn from someone you might disagree with, but who will gain your respect.

M IKE C LAWSON , pastor of Via Christus Community Church and coordinator of up/rooted, the Chicagoland Emergent Cohort

Mirrors are helpful in two ways: they can help us see things about ourselves that we need to change, or they can confirm that things are just as we intend them to be. In this book, Hemant holds up a mirror to American churches. Dont blame the mirror if youre surprised by what you see.

B RUXY C AVEY , teaching pastor at The Meeting House in the Toronto area (www.themeetinghouse.ca)

I was lucky enough to buy Hemants soul on eBay, and we became good friends. I asked him to review ten churches and record his impressions on his blog. Thousands of people read his insightful critiques, and hundreds posted comments. Im convinced that what Hemant has to say is critical to Christians who want to connect with the people Jesus misses most.

J IM H ENDERSON , executive director of Off the Map (www.off-the-map.org) and author of Evangelism Without Additives and Jim and Casper Go to Church

I S OLD M Y S OUL ON E B AY
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
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A division of Random House Inc.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( ESV ) are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

eISBN: 978-0-307-49949-3

Copyright 2007 by Hemant Mehta

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer design logo are registered trademarks of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mehta, Hemant.
I sold my soul on eBay : viewing faith through an atheists eyes / Hemant Mehta. 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Church. 2. Evangelistic work. 3. Non-church-affiliated people. 4. Mehta, HemantReligion. 5. Atheists. I. Title.
BV640.M44 2007
261.21dc22
2006038746

v3.1

For Mom, Dad, and Nina.

C ONTENTS

P UBLISHER S N OTE

I f you were looking for God, where would you go to find Him? Better yet, if you had decided God doesnt exist, what would you do to test that conclusion?

For author Hemant Mehta, a leader in the Secular Student Alliance and other secular organizations, the God question is a crucial one. He would be the first to acknowledge that many questions are left unanswered. And while he trusts science to prove or disprove most theories and assumptions, he agrees that the question of God is not one science can be expected to answer.

So in answer to the question, If you were looking for God, where would you go to find Him? Mehta decided to give church a try. But he didnt decide just to go to church. He held an eBay auction, agreeing to attend any place (or places) of worship determined by the winning bidder. Jim Henderson, a former pastor and author of Evangelism Without Additives, won the auction. He asked Mehta to attend a number of churches and write a critique of each one. The critiques were posted on Hendersons Web site, www.off-the-map.org, and readers were given a rare opportunity to look at faith through the eyes of an atheist.

Many who were aware of Mehtas eBay auction felt it made about as much sense as Davy Crockett giving Santa Anna advice on the most effective way to lay siege to the Alamo. Or Peyton Manning shouting the particulars of the Colts next play to the Pittsburgh defense. Why would an atheist volunteer to point out what is working effectively in church on Sunday morning and what is failing when it comes to getting the gospel message across to skeptical listeners? When you read this book, youll find out.

I Sold My Soul on eBay is a first. A committed skeptic teamed up with a publishing house that produces books for the Christian market with the purpose of providing candid, insightful, and fair-minded critiques of a wide variety of churches. As he did research for this book, Mehta visited fifteen churches in four states, including some of the best-known churches in the country. His critiques of these churches are presented here for the first time.