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Use and Misuse of Church Signs
Posted by Les Puryear in Church & Missions
You’ve seen them as you drive by: church signs with messages on them. Here are examples of a few of the signage I’ve seen:
“God will never leave you for the Jets!”
“Which is worse: a child afarid of the dark or an adult afraid of the light?”
“I created Church Norris. God”
“That love your neighbor thing? I meant that. God”
“We welcome the good the bad and the ugly.”
“Will you take God on summer vacation with you?”
There are even whole books dedicated to church signs.
The church I pastored two churches ago, in Granville County, had a very nice sign in the front of the church. The sign was not cheap; it cost more than $5,000 installed. I had never pastored a church with a nice sign like that so I was curious how I should use it. It wasn;t long before I came to the conclusion that just like all of our church facilites and property, we were to be good stewards of it to glorify God. This also included our sign. What would be the best use of our sign?
I have a high view of scripture and I believe God’s word will not return to Him void but will accomplish the purposes for which He sends it (Isa. 55:11). I also believe Heb. 4:12 in that the word of God is living and powerful and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. If that is true, then what better use of a church sign could there be than displaying God’s Word? So that’s what I did. Each Monday, I would change our sign to reflect a new verse of scripture. Thus, when people rode by our church, they were confronted, not with man’s word, but the piercing word of God. During my time there, the church doubled in Sunday morning worship attendance from 60 to 120. What part did our church sign play in this growth? I have no idea. However, I do believe when people drove by our church and read our sign, they knew we were serious about proclaiming the Word of God.
IMHO, the proper use of church signs is to display God’s Word. Those who write a clever saying and then attach “God” to it, come very close to blasphemy to me. I would be very careful in attributing to God the words of men. I prefer the words of God.
What do you think about the use of church signs? Should they be used to display the clever sayings of men? Or should they be a beacon of God’s Word to the world?
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This is how they should NOT be used:
http://crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com/
As the knight told Indiana Jones: “You have chosen correctly.” Forget the artsy, fartsy, cutesy little one-liners that might make someone say, “Oh that’s a good one,” as they just keep driving on the “wide-road.” However, with the Word boldly proclaimed as they pass, then they will be held accountable and on the Day of Judgment, that very sign may be shown back to them and they will have to render an account.
Also, we too will have to give an account of how we used our resources and I think your decision to give honor to our Lord through the use of Scripture is a wise one. Wow…you can learn something from a small church pastor
It’s always seemed a little ironic to me that a CHURCH would put something out there for people to READ when they’re DRIVING! Folks ought to keep their eyes on the ROAD, not some clever roadside verbiage.
Who is Church Norris?
Les: I like your approach. The day our church votes to add ridiculous cutsie phrases to our sign is the day I leave.
I like to ask questions on our church sign. I hate those “cute little sign phrases”, too. However, when I asked the question, “What will you tell God when you die?” got HUGE responses from members and non-members alike.
You can seldom go wrong with Scripture on your sign. Other than that, use it for announcements only.
Rick,
I didn’t mention it in the article, but I think announcements for church events are acceptable too.
Les
Here’s several examples of misuses:
crummychurchsigns.blogspot.com
I concur with you guys–keep it simple. Scripture and announcements–no corny one-liners.