Bad Church Sign: Tired of Contemporary?

This week’s bad church sign states:

“Tired of Contemporary? Come try us.”

Let’s break this down a bit if you don’t mind:

Who is this sign for? If you think of the wording, who would understand it, you can identify the target audience – disgruntled Christians from another church. So, some of the members at 1st Church are upset that contemporary is now the predominate musical style of their congregation, so members at 2nd Church want to help them work through it. How, you ask? They think you should leave your church over the 15-20 minutes a music a week that you don’t like and join them because they have it set in stone just the way you like it.

News flash: if your target audience is disgruntled church members, guess what your church will be full with (if it’s not already): disgruntled church members! And how do you make a disgruntled place ever more dysfunctional, add more disgruntled people to the mix. Surely, that’s a great strategy to align a group of self-sacrificial, authentic, no compromise believers.

While this church put a sign on their strategy, the strategy is seen all over the place.

One church has a great traditional service that won’t change at all. Another church has a rock show that will make you feel like you are at a concert venue. One church has the best student activities. Another church has way better children’s programs than the church you are currently attending. We spend all our time trying to steal other’s sheep that we neglect the lost around us. The apparent “growth” is just parts of one flock joining another one down the road.

What is that is important to you? What’s important to me?

Choirs, cantatas, soloists, buildings, activities, programs, styles, personalities, Fall Festivals, revivals, quartets, tattoos, suit and ties, skinny jeans, and everything in between, and along the way, the tragedy strikes: Jesus is no longer center in our churches.

Here’s a good Jesus-centered sign: “Tired of making it all about you? Come follow Jesus.”