Reply #8: As a former fundamentalist, I can say with 100% certainty...

[Tafiti]

...that you are correct. Far from being an isolated example issue-wise, Christians of this persuasion are constantly being fed mixed messages. On the one hand, these ministers hammer home the point that it doesn't matter if you're the most "moral" person in the world, or how many good things you do for people, if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (read: if you don't subscribe to our very particular dogmatic interpretations), you will not enter the Kingdom of God. They make sure the congregation never forgets that it is their faith that they need to work on, not their works. In other words, though never expressed explicitly, it's OK if you don't help people, as long as your relationship with God is in the right place - that's the single most important thing. Then on the other hand, the emphasis that Jesus himself puts on "social gospel" is too much to ignore. And, indeed, they recognize the fact that it's good to "minister" to other people, by helping those in need. However, in their fervent effort to spread the "good news", these seemingly well-intentioned attempts to help people in need often become masks for proselytization (even if only subconsciously).