I can’t handle it anymore. Bad church signs, that is.
I see them everywhere… witty little sayings we Christians will get and might possibly even get a little laugh about. Yet things that surely do anything but help to draw someone searching for God on church property, let alone into the building.
You’ve seen them:
“Don’t worry… Moses was a basket case too.”
“Seven days without prayer makes one weak.”
“This church is prayer conditioned.”
“Hell has no thermostat.”
Sure… intended to make a point, maybe even be humorous… but put yourself in the same soles of someone searching for God, someone who doesn’t have any of the common Biblical knowledge background that most Christians share.
Not so helpful, huh?
Well… saw yet another one tonight, maybe one of the worst ever:
“If you’re still alive, God isn’t through with you yet.”
Imagine being someone who has lived a rough live… someone who has rarely had something go their way… someone who has experienced nothing but suffering and hurt their entire life. Now imagine you’re finally starting to search for God, and show up at this church. You read the sign.
Wow. Yep, I’m still alive. And God isn’t through with me yet. All this nonsense I’ve dealt with… maybe God allowed it. And he’s not through with me? All he’s done is allow hurt and pain… forget him. No way.
Yeah. That’s one way someone could read it.
Now of course I know what this church is trying to say… God doesn’t give up on any of us. He’s loved us since the beginning of time, before our very existence, and continues to love us forever. His saving grace is available to all, no matter how big the sin, and it’s never too late to turn our lives over to Him.
But that’s not how someone COULD read this.
Churches? Enough is enough. Think about what you’re going to put on your sign. Think about it might be received by those you’re supposed to exist for… people outside a relationship with Christ. Now think about whether what you want to put on your sign helps you reach those folks.
If it doesn’t? DON’T PUT THE MESSAGE UP!
(End of rant. Sorry, had to let it out!)
You obviously missed this blog. He shut it down last week, but for several years, he’s been taking these messages apart, with biting commentary that comes from the same kind of mindset that produced your rant. Check out the archives – some good stuff there.
Actually, Wes, I’ve known about that site for a while. I just couldn’t take it anymore myself and had to rant for a bit! 🙂
I never thought about it like that!
Some people must wonder why God hates them so much if he’s done so many bad things to them and he’s still not through with them.
I’m glad we don’t have a message board outside our ‘church’!