EvangeCube: Evangelical Tool or Trivial Trinket?

For those of you unfamiliar with the "EvangeCube," it is a "Rubik's Cube" device that conveys pictorial depictions of the Gospel message. You can actually view an online demonstration here.

My friend, Nathan Sheets is the President of EvangeCube Global Ministries and co-inventor of this tool, distributing more than 1.5 million units around the globe to date. Suffice it to say that the EvangeCube has inspired its share of critics and naysayers. A quick google search will reveal that there are a number of Christians who believe the EvangeCube is "the cheesiest evangelistic tool in the entire world." One site states that "the EvangeCube is the LAST thing I would show my pagan friends down at the local, but it is actually a big hit in the Middle East, where thousands of people have heard and understood the story of Jesus." (That seems to be a self-refuting condemnation.)

Another site states, "The EvangeCube reduces the entire mystery of salvation to seven handy flip'n'fold pictures on a cube, enabling you to trigger a major life event in a non-believing friend in just three minutes, tops!" (Is that a bad thing?) The Dallas Morning News recently ran a story on the EvangeCube in which they quoted Simon Jenkins, editor of Ship of Fools, an online Christian magazine, saying; "Can you imagine ever sitting down with someone and they have this cube and start talking. It's like something out of another world. If someone whipped out a cube in an English pub, I'd be embarrassed if somebody was watching. It's like indecency."

While I might not be inclined to use this tool to share God's redemptive plan within academic circles or to patrons in an "English Pub" one cannot deny that this tool has proven successful in conveying the simple Gospel truth to millions of people. Is there really something wrong with this? While I certainly emphasize a deep intellectual understanding and scholarly inquiry into the doctrines of God and the development of a comprehensive theology; I also understand that we should do all we can to communicate the simple life-saving message of the Gospel.

I am thankful for Nathan's vision and pray that God continues to use him and EvangeCube Ministries to spread the message of hope and salvation. I also pray that the Church would be reminded that if God can use Balaam's donkey to share His truth then he can use a simple cube with pictures.