In 2017 there will be a major gathering of the German protestant church from 24th to 28th May.  Doubtless the gathering is even more significant this year because it is 500 years since  the Reformation began with  Martin Luther in 1517.

One of the most striking aspects of this event is the large amount of prominent advertising with its slogan attempting to reach out to the nation with the good news about Jesus Christ: “Du siehst mich,” from Genesis 16:13.

This verse can be translated as “You see me” or “You are watching me” and the connotation is unavoidable. It smacks so strongly of at best Monsters Inc. with “I’m watching you, Razelski, always watching you” or at worst George Orwell’s “Big Brother is watching you.” And this at a time when, thanks to Donald Trump, “1984” has recently become a best-seller again in the US.

One of the least palatable ideas to many human beings is the idea that they are being constantly watched or observed by something or someone. This is especially unpopular in Germany where nearly all professionals are obliged to hold all private information as confidential, at no matter what cost. Germans set great store in protecting their private space and very strongly object to being observed by the police, government officials, hackers, etc.

If the protestant church is trying to reach out to the millions of unbelievers in Germany, then they certainly chose the wrong slogan! Whereas I honour and admire the great social work done by the church in Germany, when it comes to evangelism, they would have been much better off by choosing to quote their countryman, Friedrich Nietzsche, when he said: “Gott selbst ist tot.”

I guess the only consolation is that the church leaders have with this slogan quoted Hagar, the genetic mother of Islam, and so they will have at least managed to reach out to the growing number of Muslims in the nation.