in our old school neighborhood we are just a few blocks away from a cluster of churches and daily erin & drive by them. one church actively sends messages over it's church signs. being down the street i drive by a few times a day. some signs i like, some are more information, some celebratory (someone got baptized), some cliche, some are annoying, some make no sense to me.. the most recent one makes me ill.
since i was away with the youth workers convention i missed when they actually put this one up. so i saw it yesterday morning when i headed off to church. it made me so ill, i decided to take a picture and stew over it. healthy practice, i know.
instead of a doctorate thesis, i give you the cliff notes of why this particular one makes me ill.
- "God grants liberty".. now this could be a semantics thing, but within the context of the greater quote. the liberty spoken of is an american democracy concept. before that though, God grants freedom and life through Christ, God blesses, but there is no mention of "liberty" especially the liberty eluded to in this quotation. God works through the individual, where they may be given liberty from a sin or hindrance, but as a nation..?
- "to those who love it".. i will be the first to say that i love the liberties and blessings this country avails me to. however, this liberty is a nation state concept, not a God concept. i do believe the great commission is to make believers of all nations, not nations of believers.. big difference. plus, does my love of liberty (or democracy) become idol in nature, something i am worthy to die over versus the call of God?
- "are always ready to guard and defend it".. this brings about so many conflicts. yes i wish we could live with Christ centered pacifism, but that is problematic for me. a defense or a "just war" understanding i can get behind. but who is the decider of when we need to "guard" or "defend?" certainly not me. why do we need to be "always on guard.. ?" does not that constitute that someone is going to steal away our stuff? doesn't Christ call us to live in the world, but not of the world? being of the world (american context) is one where we collect and protect stuff. we do not fight to protect God, we fight for american democracy & american interests. let's be honest with that, it is okay, but do not coat it with some other cover so people feel our defense is God anointed. this is also not to say that individual soldiers cannot be found doing the work of God, but as a whole
you can tell a lot about a church from their sign. i am hoping these folks feel inclined to change this one sometime soon. i am going to be home much of this week with the holiday and hope to not see it every time i leave or come back to the neighborhood.
