I am going to add an addition to my blog today. Many of you know about my obsession with bad church signs. So many of them are actually harmful to the church’s message, and the congregations never really think about the message they are sending. So I hope my humorous approach will help some people think about communicating with an increasing population who are unchurched in this country.
My good buddy, Tree Akers, sent me this church sign a few years ago and it definitely qualifies for the bad church sign of the week award.
And it reads:
“When God toots we’re gonna scoot are you rapture ready!”
Where do I begin?
When God toots. Do I have a problem with the idea of God tooting? While this church I am sure meant that when Christ returns, the angelic brass section will begin to sound the trumpets, most people driving by don’t think of trumpets when they hear that someone has “tooted.”
We’re gonna scoot. I understand that they intend to mean that Christians will scoot on up to heaven when Christ comes. But once again, most people think of when someone is tooting, you go a scooting away from the tooter. Most drivers will understand what it means to scoot when someone toots, but I don’t know if they will get the intended meaning.
Are you rapture ready! While this is in the form of a question, the exclamation mark says something. But unfortunately, the word “rapture” doesn’t say too much at all. For most Americans, that concept isn’t too familiar. They don’t know if they are rapture ready because they don’t know what the rapture is – and signs can’t tell that message – people need to.
Churches, the intended message is not always the understood message.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
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