I Love My Church's Sign

I was studying today to teach tomorrow night, when I decided to take a break from what I was looking at. I picked up a church resource magazine/catalog that has put together a bunch of different people who make chairs, electronics, signs, ect. When I got to the back cover I was amazed to read an ad about a sign company. On it was a quote from a pastor from a denomination that will remain anonimous saying, "Our congregation has grown 300 percent [they went from 200 to 600 in 16 months], and our Robson sign is by far the number one reason."

Let's just play out what that comment means in that church if it is true. Number one, Jesus apparently doesn't matter. If that church is growing it's obviously not because Jesus has done anything. Number two, the word of God doesn't matter either. Obviously the main reason for people coming to this church is becuase they have a cool looking sign (actually it's just an okay sign; they probably way too much money for it). Also, the man doesn't want to give any credit to his volunteers that help to make Sunday morning and everything else so successful. Unless, this is a case where he does it all himself, where he will in turn burn out, do something morally wrong, split the church, or just make the name of the Bride of Christ mud for those who were just starting to get interested in it all.

What is wrong with the church today (and what is wrong with a company who produces church signs in the name of Jesus actually using that advertisement)? Where has the cross become so distanced from everything that we attempt to do as a church. Too often the question is asked about how much food and pop and donuts we should have each week, and the whole issue of Jesus is never even brought up. If we had it our way we'd just talk about sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll and never discuss the cross.

Is it because the cross is messy? I wonder. I wonder if we ever think about it. Do we ever think about it as messy, in a way that communicates how much God hates our sin. Or do we simply reduce it to some crappily designed t-shirt and neclace that we picked up at our local everything goes Christian book store.

But I digress. I simply wanted to say how much Christian advertising stinks...