As you may know, I hate church signs. Well, maybe that isn't true, I hate that the people who put them up are serious about them, I, frankly, find most of them hilarious in a very sad way. I saw another "good" one the other day in the town where I live. It simply said, "How would Jesus drive?"
Let that sink in for a minute. Let the raging torrent of idiocy wash over you. Never mind the fact that this church spent probably somewhere in excess of 10-15 thousand dollars on this sign. Never mind the fact that a good number of people in my town can't afford to pay their electric bill, while said church spends said amount of dollars on said sign. Ignoring those facts, it still begs the question, who cares how Jesus would drive? What does that have to do with anything? My wife's response was priceless: "Um, he probably wouldn't."
I think there's something bigger going on here though. How vacuous and ridiculous has American Christianity become that we even have to ask, and/or answer a question like that? I understand what they are implying by asking the question, but if someone who claims to follow Jesus can't drive without being enraged and flipping everyone off, then, to be honest, their faith isn't worth much anyway. I don't mean that as a judgment call on anyone, but when I look at the Bible, I don't see the writers spending too much time on stuff as petty as being courteous to others while riding your donkey/chariot. When you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, it seems to be a given that a Christ-follower would be courteous to those around them. Being courteous and loving isn't part of the package of following Jesus, it is the package. Why can't churches who have signs ask questions that matter? Why do they have to have signs at all?
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7 comments:
there, douchebag. i updated it. just for you.
here are a few of my faves...
Jesus doesn't need lawyers, He needs witnesses.
sign broke, message inside.
God loves knee-mail.
tired of being a loser? turn to God.
walmart isn't the only saving place.
let God have his way with you.
google doesn't answer all the questions.
sacred cows make the best hamburgers.
Jesus is the best potter. not Harry.
don't let stress kill you, let the church help!
my all-time favorite was up in your neck of the woods. it was "abounding grace church" and the sign read: "Don't make me come down there." - God. that kind of irony is so good, it has to be fattening.
my church sign is about to have my name on it...
now that's a good sign.
anyway. i kind of like church signs. it wasn't put up by a specific church, but a church rented billboard space down in Clarksville and put up a sign that said, "Saturday is the true Sabbath. It was changed by the AntiChrist."
made me laugh.
right. anyway.
we all know christianity now is about being catchy. if we have something snazzy on our church sign, it's going to catch people's attention. duh. but anyway. i get what you're saying, but i guess i don't really think it's a big deal. i'm kind of at the point where i figure, let them do their thing. i can't change them, and really, all i can do is complain about it(which is still funny.) that's their faith and if that's the most they're doing than i'll take that over some creepy super evangelistic douchebag like the ones that stand up on Taft/Calumet in Clifton in Cincinnati and condemn UC students to hell. i was watching hotel rwanda last night and there's a line that says something like, "americans will see this and say, wow that's awful, and then go back to eating their dinner". which is essentially true i think, of most people in general and christians too. we see stuff that sucks but just say, wow that's crappy, and not do anything about it. considering my current situation, i guess i'm more of the persuasion that i should just start living the life i feel we're called to live and if other people around me who don't roll that way start doing it, then cool. and if not, that's cool do. can't do anything to change it.
anyway. i think we should start laughing at other signs. like ones put up by the government.
like the ones in kentucky when you get on the interstate that say, "no non-motorized vehicles. no farm equipment. no pedestrians. no animals on foot."
think about the last one.
yeah. it's that great.
i agree with you on a lot fo your points. i think, though, that we have to ask the question, what if it is a big deal? what if these signs push people farther and farther away from jesus? by the way, that billboard you mentioned is pretty dang funny.
the greatest day ever was the day that someone took out the eastview sign off 252.
the saddest day? when we replaced it.
i guess i don't really think a sign can push someone away from jesus. maybe it might stir up something in them but there's obviously been some hurt along the way from people in the church or something. i dunno. obviously there's a point when it's too far - like avoid hell. repent. blah blah blah. but i think for the most part it's kind of a non issue.
could just be more of an encouragement for us to change the perception of christians in peoples eyes? all these dumb signs cause people to think, wow christians are dumb. but if we're out living it, they'll start to see a new picture.
or something.
and on the same token. tis kind of a call for us to start trying to live in a way that christians - like the ones in the churches that put up giggly-worth signs such as the aformentioned - would see that their faith doesn't have to be lived out on a billboard/church sign but is instead a personal daily thing done through interaction and sharing their lives with people.
i think it's more ignorance than anything. that's all they know. a few years ago you'd probably have been the same way.
i look back now and think, man why didn't i get it. but then i remember that it took someone living it for me to start to see what it takes to have that kind of life and get out of the lame christianity i was into before. whateves.
blah blah long comment sorry.
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