The Great Commission

I saw this sign in my neighborhood and just had to comment. I have felt for some time that these church sign marquees are worthless…just another job for someone to do to help them feel useful to the “Kingdom.” The crazy thing is I just know there’s probably a book out there some place providing neat, quirky, funny sayings (CH__CH What’s missing? UR!) church folks can put on their marquee.

But look at this message. What were they going for here? What are they trying to tell me by
putting this message on their sign? Are they witty? Do they have a great sense of humor? This is just so dopey I don’t know what to think about it.

Granted, I’ve never been to this church and to my knowledge, I’ve never met anyone who goes there. But is this sign meant to be a reflection of the type of people you’ll find on any given Sunday in that church? Is that supposed to make it more appealing to me to “try ‘em out next Sunday?” No thank you.

But let’s leave the WHAT for a moment and take a look at the WHY? Why do churches have these signs in the first place? I suppose I can see a sign that says, “Our services are at 10:30 Sunday morning!” But why are we subjected to pithy statements like, “For real answers to life, check your KNEEL MAIL!” Uh…right.

I don’t know how many millions of dollars churches in this country spend annually trying to prove to the world that they are relevant, or cool, or edgy, but I can guarantee it’s way too much. How many churches have adopted “contemporary worship” trying to attract a younger demographic? How many churches have started meeting on Saturday night for the same reason? How many pastors have stopped wearing the robe, gotten an earring, grown a goatee (or worse…soul patch), wear their shirt tail out and fluffed up their thinning hair all in a pathetic attempt to show people that they are “with it.” Please.

If a church has the boldness and the guts to actually step up and start meeting some real needs with something more than just silly sayings wondering about Noah then hurting people will do whatever it takes to be a part. People do not necessarily want to come fill the pews in your church just because you’ve got a cool speaker who makes people laugh and really neat plasma screen monitors in the sanctuary.

People are dying for real-life solutions. They are looking for security and something solid to believe in and put their trust in. People are looking for community and a place to belong. They are looking for protection and shelter. They are looking for someone to help them solve the problems of their lives and tell them that it’s going to be OK. They are looking for someone to help take away the pain of the sin in their lives. The blind want to see, the lame want to walk, the naked want clothing, the prisoners want freedom. Hmmm.

Do you think it’s time to take a little closer look again at the Great Commission that Jesus gave the church in the book of Matthew? Matthew 28:19 and 20 says, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Look at the first two words, Therefore go… There is no command to bring the world in to our “sacred” buildings so we can help them. There is nothing here that states, “be as attractive as you can to the world so they will come into your buildings and give more money to you for your programs.” The command is GO. Be salt. Be light. Go into the neighborhoods and the schools and the bars and the clubs. Get out there!

The next thing it says is make disciples. Making disciples assumes relationship. It means walking through life with someone…day in and day out. It means taking the bad with the good and being there…no matter what. The verse does not say make converts. In the grand scheme of things, making converts is probably the easy first step. The much more difficult, messy process is making the disciples.

It would seem to me that the sign with a message like this only proves to the world that they are out of touch and not likely to understand where I am or the issues I’m dealing with.

Maybe a better usage of the sign would be to put up a message like “Free food and clothing! Be at the grocery store parking lot at 10:00 Sunday morning!”