Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Here's Your Sign

One of my coworkers at the church I work at told me of a man who called the other day to register a complaint. We have a large marquee sign right up against a very busy freeway. This man is a commuter and he was upset about a message he saw displayed on our sign that said "Don't text and drive." The message that follows has something to say about how it's a good way to go meet Jesus face to face.

What bothered him was what he perceived as an order from the church not to text while he is driving. He said, "What gives you the right to tell people what to do?"

My coworker said, "Well sir, the sign belongs to us and the constitution gives us the right to put any message up we choose." He went on to explain how texting while driving is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

The gentleman was undeterred in his protest. He finished with letting us know that he would NOT be attending our church because we had the audacity to tell people what to do with our "Don't Text And Drive" message on the marquee.

Okay, let me get this straight. This man sees the sign. Feels we are trying to tell him what to do. Calls the church and reams someone out for telling him what to do...Yep, that's what he did. He called us to tell us we shouldn't tell people what to do.

Hmmm! If I'm not mistaken, he called the church to tell us what to do, namely, "You shouldn't tell people what to do!" Do you see the same thing I see? Isn't he breaking his own rule of "It's wrong to tell people what to do?"

I don't think his problem was that he felt put upon by a sign with a message, else he would use all his cell phone minutes calling Coke, Burger King, Ford Motor Company, and every other advertiser that has a billboard on his way to and from work, telling him to buy their product. My suspicion is that he is mad at God and was ready to unload on the first church that he felt had done him wrong. We were just the one he found to vent his penned up anger towards.

My first reaction was one of sarcasm. I know, you probably find that hard to believe! Okay, that was sarcastic. But upon reflecting on it more, I find myself praying for him. He is a man who is wrestling with God, and God is winning. The Lord has his attention and he doesn't like it one bit. So I pray that the Holy Spirit would pin him to the mat, he would give up, and surrender his will to Jesus. Until then, the Lord will continue to say, "Here's your sign!"

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12 ESV