Church Signs

What is the southern church's fascination with cheesy church signs and even billboards? We've all seen them, I know. But do these signs really speak to a non-believer? Is someone really likely to come to Jesus after seeing His name in eight foot tall letters on a billboard? How about after reading a clever (and I use that term loosely) sign about the "Christian" lifestyle:

"GOOD
without GOD
is just O"

Something isn't quite right here, I understand, yet I saw this lovely gem on a church sign in the metroplex this weekend. Perhaps if "good" were spelled with a "0 (number)" instead of an "o (letter)" it would make more sense. Of course, many people probably don't even realize the difference.

I guess this just continues another chapter in my frustration with the United States church. Why can we not just be real? What happened to building relationships and showing Jesus to people, rather than insisting on cramming Him down their throats? Contrary to what we often believe, Jesus doesn't really need our help to be cool, to be attractive, to be desirable. Sure, we are supposed to share Him with others, to live out his calling in our lives, but the last time I checked this doesn't really include force feeding.

Building relationships with non-believers is so much more effective than screaming condemnation at their faces. Provided we are living a life worthy of our Savior, a non-believer will eventually, if not quickly, see something mirrored in our life that they are missing, something that they long to have. Our job may not be to recite a salvation prayer with them, our job may simply be to show them the love of Christ. And that may look and seem like a small and insignificant gesture, but God can take something simple and turn it into something spectacular. I suppose like so much else with our attitudes, we feel like a failure if we are not the one there at the moment of salvation. But this is simply not the case. We should consider it a privilege to be there at any part of the race, whether that be at the warm-up, the starting line, an encouragement station along the route, or the glorious finish. How I long for the church to see this.

that's all.