A Connecticut mother found a seashell with a Bible app ad while out with her son at a beach. After she shared it online, thousands of Redditors accused a Christian of littering just to advertise the app. Several also shared their criticisms of how un-Christlike using “trickery,” like a random seashell on a beach, to get people to read the Bible is.
Posting a photo of the seashell to r/mildlyinfuriating, Reddit user mo8816 claims her son found the seashell while they were at the beach. Inside, there’s a sticker telling readers to download YouVersion’s Bible app, developed by Life Church.
According to YouVersion’s website, its only products are mobile apps, no merchandise like evangelical seashells with ads. That said, there’s also no evidence that whoever placed the shell at the beach is affiliated with YouVersion, but plenty of online users are certain it was a Christian.
“Vandalising nature in the name of Christianity is something I really shouldn’t be surprised about,” remarks one commenter. “Nothing says ‘start a Bible habit’ like littering a beach,” joked another. “Christians can be just the most insufferable people,” sighed a third. “I hear if you put a shell like that up to your ear, you can hear Jesus telling people not to do this,” commented a fourth.
Other Redditors shared their stories of how some churches they knew would place fake $20 or even $100 bills around to get random people’s attention. These kinds of prop bills can be purchased in bulk from sellers on Amazon and usually contain the Gospel message. However, online users feel as though this sort of religious soliciting is nothing more than “trickery” and gives a bad look for Christians in general.
In another Reddit post from over 7 years ago, many commenters call out this “disguised” form of evangelism as both “dishonest” and “unethical.” Simply put, many believe that both seashells advertising a Bible app or dollar bills with the Gospel “give excuse to besmirch the name of Jesus.”
