Well, it is almost three o'clock in the morning, and I cannot sleep. Seems like a GREAT time to blog! I think I will do my first serious blog now, and also my first religious one! Let's start the controversy now.
Down in Springfield, Mo there are some fine folks who stand on the corner of downtown every Friday night and hold up signs that are meant to save the world. I guess. These signs say things such as "Woman should be covered and silent" and "The Party Ends in Hell" and other such goodness. Now, as a Christian, I somehow feel offended by these "religious" signs and have thought a lot about them. Especially at three in the morning it would seem. Let me break this down into a pros and cons list to sort through my feelings about such a delicate issue.
Pros
Well, they start dialog about spirituality, so that is always good. The people who read the signs talk with the sign holders and I am assuming sometimes just between themselves. Most of it is negative I have a feeling, but some good things have come out of it I am sure.
It does get the Word of God out there... kind of... It is a bit of bad interpretation and application, but at least they are being bold in their faith and stepping out to do something, I think that is something more of the rest of us Christians should do. How many times a day do Christians, myself included, sometimes shy away from being bold in our faith? These guys are at least trying, even if they are misguided.
It causes people to think. This is pretty much the same as the first one. This is mainly more for the Christians though, because the non-Christians are going to go by, see some crazy people and just bash them, the Christians will be forced to, prepare yourselves now, actually take out their Bibles and study it critically! Shocking I know. These guys are pretty well read and know what they believe, can the same be said about you? or me even?
Cons
There are none, best approach to evangelism I have ever seen.
Ok, you caught me, that was a lie. Well, first of all, it is abrasive without a point. Jesus was abrasive for a reason, he could point out people's flaws in a creative way, without being a jerk about it, and they would still change. I would somewhat doubt many people are changed by the signs that these guys are holding up.
It is not very loving. Seriously, just talking with these guys it sounds more like hatred than love. In addition, they sound like they have given up on everyone in the world that is not a part of their specific church. Ouch. First of all, what is the point of the signs then, and secondly, that is not showing a lot of faith in God's power if you do not believe He can save people now. Look at David, that man after God's own heart was pretty messed up at times. Also, Jesus loved the sinners and ate with them, not held up signs that talked about how sinful they were or yelled and screamed at them. That last part probably has bad verb subject agreement, correct me if it does, it is after three now, so I do care not grammar about. See what I did there?
It gives people a bad taste in their mouth when they think of Christianity. Now instead of Mother Theressa, or the mission relief after Hurricane Catrina or something like that, people think of the angry people on the street corners. Combine that with the Spanish Inquisition and Christianity sounds like it has the greatest army in the world. Not bad for a guy that rode on an ass' foal and preached turning the other cheek.
I give props to them for their spirit and boldness. However it somewhat comes down to just being a jerk. It is really in your face and not going to win anyone over. If it has or does than it is all worth it, unless of course it has only won one person to Christ and turned of hundred's more that would have been otherwise. This goes for shirts and things to, some things I have seen people wear or heard people say just screams to me I AM BETTER THAN YOU BECAUSE I AM A CHRISTIAN AND YOU'RE NOT FOOL! and I just do not see that anywhere in the New Testament. Ok, maybe Paul to some extent, but not like that. And he wrote half the New Testament and helped poor people, so he gets a little more of a pass. I should write a better summary, but I really want to go to sleep.
Love God, Love others, Take time to listen. And comment. Let me hear your thoughts?
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