What's does your Church sign say? There is one down the street from me which says,"Soul Out of Shape, Let God be your Personal Trainer." Another states,"Sorry Looks Back, Worry Looks Forward, Faith Looks Up!" An hour south from my home, I saw a sign which read, "Every Choice Leads Somewhere." The quote was even attributed to God himself.
I have become increasingly burdened about how our major media outlets ignore the pain and suffering of people around the world because they are Christians. Five hundred Christians, mostly women and children, in Nigeria murdered and there is barely a word mentioned. A young poor Pakistani girl attacked then thrown into prison for contacting the police? Nothing on CNN. China repatriating escaped North Korean Christians to almost certain death. You don't read about that on the news flashes when you sign onto your Yahoo email account. A father of ten and a pastor in the most dangerous place in the world killed for his faith in Christ. That doesn't make the evening news.
We Christians do, however, have tens of thousands of church sign boards across the USA. What if instead of telling people to "Smile for Jesus Today" we say, "Pastor Thrown in Prison. Wife Hungry " "Korean Girl Thrown in Concentration Camp for having Bible." What if we turned from catchy snippets to telling a blind world about the battle going on with "principalities of darkness." It may get peoples attention; which we don't have now. It might get some to walk back through those church doors because they are looking for something of such value that people are willing to give their lives for it. Let's not let such great promotional real estate go to waste.
Not a bad idea. May be a little confusing to folks who think it was talking about the church who puts up the sign. Maybe it should say, Chinese Pastor imprisoned...
ReplyDeleteInteresting idea. It raises the question about people--why do we find it so hard to empathize with those who are suffering far away from us or in great numbers.
ReplyDelete10,000 people starving? 10% infant mortality rate in most of Africa last year? Whatever the reason, those numbers don't move me the way they ought to. I mean, I'm horrified, but not horrified enough.
But when my dogs nearly kill a baby deer in my backyard (yesterday) I feel the horror in my gut and have nightmares about it. Why is that?
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ReplyDeleteIt is hard for us to see the big picture of "far away", and we need constant reminders (i.e The Word of God). That is why we often fall for practicality over principle. When we do the small things God asks us to do, we are helping the big picture. Maybe that is why God says those who are faithful in small things...
ReplyDeleteCould be a great tool to draw attention to what is going on in the world!
ReplyDeleteGlad to find you through High Calling Blogs!
Wow, Interesting thought. I agree that if we gave the call to discipleship along with the costs we would probably have disciples who are more faithful . Bonhoeffer said, "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves...the preaching of forgiveness with requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession...Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at chich a man must knock...It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life." (The Cost of Discipleship).
ReplyDeleteI agree... one really great way of making sure as a whole we don't forget our brothers and sisters in Christ is to tell our children and help create a burden in them...
ReplyDeleteHave you read, Safely Home by Randy Alcorn? Though fiction, it opened my eyes to the reality of the persecuted church.
amy in peru
Let's not let such great promotional real estate go to waste... love that!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog the other day. It was good to have you.
Come anytime!
Thanks Doug for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the same answer I'll give you I gave in another blog this morning.
People want real, tangible stuff they can grasp and relate to. They want to know they are not suffering alone, they want to know that we love and care for them. They don't want to be talked at, but held.
I see a trend in these comments... I, too, stopped by to say thanks for stopping by MY blog! :-)
ReplyDeleteLots to think about regarding your post. I recently read an article about how individual-centered Christianity in America has become - God becomes a divine therapist, as we ask him to fix our marriage, bless our homes, take care of our every need. And while that's OK to a certain extent, the early church was focused on the unity of the church family as a whole. It's made me think more about approaching God for bigger things, for the greater good, for the church as a whole, instead of just for individual needs. Our God is a personal God, and he cares about all of it, large and small, but I just wonder how far away from what he intended we have become in our culture... Lots to think about.
What a great and thought provoking post. We hear about mosques being bombed, temples being plagerized with anti-Semetic messages, but never do you hear about the plight of foreign Christians in the mainstream media. It does make a person wonder why.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I truly appreciate new readers and comments. I hope to hear from you again.
xo Erin
Adding my thanks to the chorus for stopping by my blog and leaving a thoughtful comment. This is a great post, Douglas. You make a great point about these signs being valuable promotional real estate. We SHOULD be more thoughtful about how we use them to reach the lost!
ReplyDeleteHi Doug,
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. I totally agree with this post. We Christians have to challenge the zeitgeist and point to the truth of specific oppressions and injustices as in the examples you gave. The MSM will not do this. Their mindless me-too-ism in support of ideologies against Christian principles makes them part of the problem and not of the solution. God bless you for these thoughts. Are we always and everywhere ready for martyrdom by pointing out the truth? It's a question I have to ask myself.
So true, Doug. We are left in the dark about so much suffering in the world. Other cultures/countries do a much better job of getting the world news out. But I wonder if the media is just giving us what we say we want. The ratings show that we seem to have a real hunger for tabloid news--the latest on celebrities and that sort of thing--more than what is going on across the ocean. How do we change that? I don't know. It's a real sickness, I think.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment at eternal sighs! Also thank you for tugging my heart again toward the persecuted church. I ache to unite with them somehow or at least honour their sacrifices. . . interesting idea
ReplyDelete