Billboards

Billboards tell the true personality of a place.  The ones that are in the city are flashy, depicting new technology, an urban lifestyle, or hotels.  In smaller towns, there is real diversity in these enormous signs.  For two days, my mother, my sister and I went down to the Missouri side of Kansas City to see the Princess Diana exhibit. (Her clothes were magnificent -- but I'm not sure how she wore them without constantly worrying that she would ruin them.)  For miles in between Cedar Rapids and Kansas City, there was nothing but blissful farmland.  But as we got closer to Kansas City, I began to notice a distinct trend in the billboards.  I noted at least three that were religious, trying to bring the Good News to the public on I-35 south.

Now, in Christianity, this is a good thing.  The final command from Jesus was, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV)  There is a church in Cedar Rapids that puts a message onto a speaker, which is mounted onto the outside of the building, so the lost sheep driving down Center Point Road will be able to repent and hopefully attend the church.  Now, I don't have a particularily unbiased opinion on this, but if it were me driving down Center Point Road or I-35 south, I would be about as interested in these religious assaults as if my gas tank was half full.  I might recognize that they want something of me, but since it really doesn't affect my life now, well, I would just turn up the radio or wonder where I'm going to stop for lunch.

Many people would argue that this attempt at mass evangelizing will bring some people to church.  Maybe it will.  I don't have near enough experience to say that it wouldn't, but it seems that these attempts to publicize are misdirected in the very least.  Christian people already have a reputation of being prideful, arrogant, fake, narrow-minded, pushy, intolerable, and self-righteous.  Unfortunately, I'd sometimes be tempted to agree.  Although the billboards and speakers are technically trying to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), I have never heard of a person's salvation story related to these things.  If you're a Christian, the best way to work for God is to simply love -- not judge, not accuse, not throw their actions in their face -- love.  If you're a non-Christian, remember that these people are just that -- human.  The faith's legitamacy is not tainted by human inadequacy.  God's love isn't reserved for the people sitting int the front row of the church sanctuary.

In Missouri, I got to thinking what kind of people it was that made those billboards, decided they were a good idea.  I don't know them or their story, but I do know that I don't want to be seen like that.  I don't want to be the person whose actions can't speak for themselves, who has to scream, "REPENT AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED!" just  to fulfill the Great Commission.  I also realized that other people look at us like I look at the billboards and judge accordingly.  It was humbling and utterly uncomfortable.