SIGNS WITHOUT MEANING

Ken Blue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I saw a sign in a church, and I ask a lady what I meant. She paused for some time, and then said, “I don’t have a clue.” I find this to be the norm in most churches.

When I was sent to Virginia Mason Hospital to determine my disease, I saw once again that the world has more wisdom than the church in many of its decisions and actions. I was directed down the hall to a room that had a sign over the door; Blood Lab. I went in and they drew several vials of blood.

After that I was sent to another building for an MRI. The room was marked X-ray and MRI. There, I had an MRI. On another occasion I was sent to the Physical Therapy room. The equipment and treatment matched the sign.

But, what about churches, do their signs have any relevance to what goes on in the room, or has someone simply pulled a name out of a hat? For instance, a sign in the parking lot pointed toward a two story building which read Education Building. Since I wanted to be educated in God’s Word, I concluded that was the way to go. The sign said so.

But when I was inside, the confusion became evident. The first door had a sign which read, Gideon Class. Since I knew nothing about Gideon, I figured I would search further down the hallway. The next door said Berea Class. This was a foreign language to me, so I moved on. Finally, a gentleman in the hall saw that I was lost, and ask if he could help.

I told him that I was a new believer and would like a class that taught New Testament and Old Testament survey or a class on how to rightly divide the Bible. He said, “We don’t have any classes that teach those subjects.” Then I ask him if I would learn about Gideon if I attended that class. He blushed, and said “no, that is just a name of the room. The signs do not indicate what they are teaching.” I ask, “What are they teaching?” He told me he did not have a clue.

And so it is with church signs, purpose statements, yearly themes, and sermon titles. It is evident that very little thought has gone into them. About the only thing that matters is, does it look and sound good? What they say has no bearing or impact on what goes on inside.

Pastor, take a long look at the signs in and outside your church and ask yourself, what do they really mean? In reality, do the signs reflect the action going on in the room or in the church?