As promised… If you’re going to do a church sign, do it right.
My other blogThey’re cute, they’re hokey, some of them may be true… but being that church signs with clever messages by the side of the road are the only contact most people have with the church, I wonder what our signs might make others think about our beliefs. Let’s have a quick look at what our signs might say about our theology.
How will you spend eternity—Smoking or Non?
So, the church is like a restaurant, and God is like a waiter… Wait, let me try to understand. You believe people will burn for all of eternity and you’re going to make a joke about it? Cheap shot = cheap faith.
Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives
So, everyone who reads their Bible regularly will not have a dirty life? The names Jimmy Swaggart, Ted Haggard and Jim Bakker come to mind.
If you don’t like the way you were born, try being born again.
Yeah. That’ll fix everything. Because the church is full of people who have no problems and aren’t the least bit neurotic.
Running low on faith? Stop in for a fill-up.
So, I can just go into church, get my God-fix and then go on about my life until I need a boost again? Ok. Does Jesus sell slushies and moon pies, too?
If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.
Yes! Prayer is the cure for a sleepless night. I can put down my sleeping pills for good. All I need to do is have enough faith and I can sleep peacefully.
Try Jesus. If you don’t like him the devil will always take you back.
This is like a test drive, right? Does that mean once I get in there you’re going to try to sell me a lemon? Because that’s what they do at car dealerships.
God is like Coke. He’s the Real Thing.
The creator of the universe is borrowing a slogan?
Santa didn’t die for sins.
Yeah. Because Jesus and Santa are in direct competition with each other.
God placed his greatest gift on the tree not under it.
Giving gifts and celebrating Christmas is wrong folks. And this church is going to judge you for it.
Reason is the greatest enemy faith has.
Wow. You really do want people to shelve their brains in order to believe. Throw all reason out the window, and just trust what Pastor Bob has to say.
I want to be your BFF. Love, God.
God wants a superficial friendship that won’t actually last forever because graduation day is coming soon? And if he’s my BFF, how can he be your BFF too?
The Bible is your best T.V. Guide.
I knew television was evil! And God must not want us to relax. Ever!
And coming this weekend… Church Signs We’d Like to See.
A 2005 survey shows 75 percent of Christians in the United States believe the Bible teaches “God helps those who help themselves.” That’s three-quarters of American Christians who believe this phrase is found in Scripture, a phrase that practically discounts the entire message of the Bible.
Anyone want to guess where the phrase actually comes from? Benjamin Franklin. The idea that God helps those who help themselves is an American one, but it isn’t a Biblical one. Yet, we’ve allowed this incorrect commentary on the nature of God to creep into our theology. It has gripped our belief system so much that it overtakes actual Scripture.
We would rather believe God helps the independent and the self-sufficient than to believe that Christ loves the helpless and calls us to feed the hungry. I’m not sure about your church, but I know at mine there are people who actually believe that the poor are poor by choice and that if they wanted to be rich, they would simply make money.
This philosophy is greed, not God. The God of the Bible is the savior of the helpless. He brought a group of helpless slaves out of captivity, rescued a prophet from a den of Lions, and gave His life for a world too lost in sin to find its way out. Jesus healed lepers and forgave prostitutes. These are not stories of the self-sufficient being aided by the Almighty.
But we’d rather help ourselves. We prefer to confuse our financial shrewdness with a blessing, and we call what we have earned through greed “God’s favor.” We’ve been helping ourselves for so long in this country, we don’t even remember that Jesus told us to look out for “the least of these.” Here’s a brief list of some of the things that have been going on while we’ve been helping ourselves.
Poverty is a real problem. There are no excuses. Jesus commands His followers to have compassion for those who are in need. They are not deadbeats. They are not lazy. They are people in need of Christ-like love. These are people who cannot help themselves, but whom God has called His people to help.
This is not a political issue. It is not a debate about whether or not government should provide aid. That is irrelevant if we call ourselves Christians. Regardless of what you believe about the role of government in fighting poverty, as a follower of Christ, you are commanded by the One who’s name you claim to do something about this problem.
I’ve been looking. I’ve been trying so hard to find you lately.
So often, it seems like you’ve gone away.
Back up the mountain. Somewhere high above the clouds.
Distant and removed.
But I saw you today.
I saw you in the hopeful face of a child.
I saw you in the home you’re giving to a family in need.
You were on the road when I was taken by surprise.
I see you in the unfailing provision you send to my unfaithful heart.
I saw you today.
In the midst of my cynicism
You brought good news and a smile.
I saw you in the lives you mended this very day.
I can see you in the lives you are starting to heal this very hour.
I saw you today.
I saw you through my tears.
You brought joy to a longing heart.
You softened one who had previously been hardened.
You spared a friend who was bound for destruction.
I saw you today.
I’ll forget you tomorrow.
But one day I will see you again.
And I will be forever changed.
As much as I enjoy the written word, often I will find that a song expresses my feelings on a subject far better than any prose I could manage to muster. The song “Shadowfeet” by Brooke Fraser has been my anthem over the course of the last few months. It seems to always play on the radio during my hardest days and in my weakest moments I hear it in my head.