I was driving past a church today that had one of those marquee-like signs out front filled with what they hoped would pass for wit and/or wisdom. As most of us do, I glanced over to read what trifle it contained this week. At the same time, the car in front of me had applied its brakes to turn a corner. I had to stop harder than usual to avoid a collision.
The question then occurred to me: What if someone looking at that sign actually hit the car in front of them and, God forbid, actually killed someone in the collision?
Then I thought, what if the pastor of that church could somehow know that at some point in the future, that the church's sign would divert someone's attention long enough that they would accidentally kill another person in an accident? What would that pastor do?
Of course, we'd contend he or she would remove the sign immediately.
Ah, but here's the dilemma: What if the pastor could never tell anyone what he or she knew about the sign and its effects? And what if the people of said church were irate over the sign and demanded it be put back up? What if the issue threatened to divide and destroy the church? What if the issue caused someone to lose his or her faith?
WWYD?
What would you do if you were the pastor of that church?
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not typical, not peculiar . . . just ordinary
About Me
- Andy Lauer
- I've been happily married to my best friend for 13 years. Barb and I have three awesome kids--Oscar, Edie, and Naomi. We live in Toledo, Ohio where we recently moved to begin the journey toward a new worshiping community (aka church) called Emmaus Road Church.
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4 comments:
I would leave the sign and put a permanant message on it:
"Hit Brakes Now! It's What Jesus Would Do"
First of all, I am not, and currently don't plan on ever being a pastor. Remember this is coming from someone with practically no formal religious education.
You pose the question regarding someone dying by reading the sign, but you fail to propose what happens when someone who isn't a believer sees the sign. What if they see something that intrigues them and they decide to go to that church the following Sunday? What if they, in turn, become a Christian because of the sign?
The truth is, we may never know how many people are saved by the sign or if someone will die because of an accident involving someone reading the sign. In my opinion, we can only do what we feel God tells us to do about the sign. Was the sign put there after consulting with God in prayer? Is prayer actually necessary for that type of decision?
To me, this question is a little bit like saying, "I have a car and over 42,000 people are killed in car accidents each year, so I should stop driving." Unfortunately in the case of the statement I just made, not many people are brought to Christ because of driving a car.
I cannot wait to read posts about how substitute teaching goes for you! I could have written a long blog today about how bad my students were but decided that it might not be appropriate nor would it really help me feel better to dwell on it...
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