Why is God bad at marketing?

Reading some of your answers, one thing I have discovered about religion (and perhaps Christianity in particular) is that it is very personal. This means that everyone has different opinions and interpretations of almost everything. There are very few people who believe exactly the same thing. I realise that these differences are only skin deep, and the underlying beliefs (the basic beliefs we discussed in my previous posts) are the same, but it still makes you think. The fact that there are so many interpretations shows one thing: Christianity and the messages of the Bible are ambiguous. So why doesn't God make things clearer for us?

Please do not jump to the obvious response – ‘what right do you have to question the way God works’? I have been told this before, but I remain unconvinced by those who say that but cannot provide an answer to my questions. It is human nature to question beliefs and knowledge, and I belive that it is very important to do so.

I have always assumed that God wants us to believe in Him. Indeed if He loves all of mankind, then he should want as many people as possible to believe. If this is the case, why does He do such a terrible job at promoting Himself? Those of you who believe and find your belief unquestionable, have you never wondered why so many people aren’t believers? There are about 4.5 billion non-believers. Assuming that Christianity is ‘the one true religion’, why are so many people missing out on it? Here are the reasons I can think of:

1. Education about Christianity is not wide spread enough
2. It is easier to find God (or think that you have) through other religions
3. God only reveals himself to certain people
4. Christianity is difficult to believe in, and those with a sceptical mind don’t think that there is enough evidence for it
5. The Devil has corrupted 4.5 billion people so that they will go to hell (through reason 2?)
6. 4.5 billion human minds are too corrupted to believe

In reasons 1 through 5, I have to think that God isn’t doing a very good job of getting people to believe in Him (assuming He wants us too). Being God, shouldn’t he be able to solve these problems without completely revealing Himself? He should be able to do it without us even noticing a difference. As for those of you who liked reason 6, isn’t it a sin to think that you are superior to 4.5 billion other human minds?

To compound this marketing problem, God also fills the world with ‘tests of faith’, which have been prominent throughout human history as we make discoveries. The whole ‘test of faith’ thing doesn’t make sense to me, and I have only ever heard it when a believer is unable to provide an explanation for something that goes against their beliefs. All I have said is with the assumption that God wants as many humans as possible to believe in Him. So I ask you these two questions:

1. Does God want us to believe in Him?
2. Why is He so bad at getting people to believe (yes, 2.1 billion people is a lot, but it also means two thirds of humans will burn in hell)?