Every day on my way to work I pass this giant monstrosity of a church. I don't believe modestly or humility is a priority here. At least it doesn't seem that way. They have one of those marquee signs where they change the saying every week or so. It stands high and tall so all the people sitting in traffic can see it from the ramp going into town. Their sayings are usually fairly benign as far as church marquee signs go. When I was in college in a very small town, one of the churches always had sayings on their sign condemning people to Hell for various infractions. Very depressing to read on my way to class in the morning. Those types of things really aren't my taste, but whatever. Usually Monster Church's sign announces upcoming sermon topics or invites people in on Sundays. Last week they had some request for everyone driving by to stop in. Ok. Sure, most churches are looking to fill their pews. No biggie. But this week, as a follow up from the previous invite, the sign said, "You are STILL driving by. Tick, Tock!"
Huh? What is all this tick, tocking about? Is the apocolypse drawing near and the only way to save ourselves is to cut our commute short and rush into Monster Church even though it is 7:30 on a Thursday morning? Never mind the fact that many people already belong to a church and Monster Church isn't the only spiritual home in America, let alone Illinois, let alone this region, let alone this city? Is time really running out? Is God going to smite us all because we drive by a church on the way to work everyday? Should we rework our route so as to bypass that part of the city altogether so the wrath of the Almighty does not rain down on us?
I guess I just really don't see the point in most church signs. Sometimes a church will have a funny or witty phrase and I will chuckle to myself, but mostly they make me roll my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I am a spiritual person. I believe in God. I believe in treating others the way we wish to be treated. I believe that all of us have some deeper purpose and I don't believe in coincidence. What I *don't* believe in is guilting people into churches. I don't believe there is *one way* into God's good graces. I don't believe people who don't go to church are going to Hell just because they don't go to church. I don't believe in shunning people and I don't believe that a church's worth is determined by how many people they can pack into the sanctuary every week. I don't believe I will turn into a pillar of salt if I never step foot into Monster Church.
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