Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Cross On The Parking Lot


There are so many churches here in Tennessee, they say you can actually find one on nearly every street corner. Now, I do not know about that, but I do know there are quite a few here. One that is just up the road from where I live, made headlines a few years ago, when they put a huge cross on the parking lot of their church. There was alot of time, and money spent on this endeavor. Well, after the cross went up, they started sending letters out to try to get new members for their church. Lovebug, and I received one of the letters. It truly saddened my heart to read the letter, all it mainly was, was an attempt to raise funds for the payment of the cross. It stated clearly in very detailed words, that they were in debt to their bank, and needed believers to come together to pay this debt. I, in no way wish to be disrespectful to the people of this church, but people wake up. My God is no longer on the cross, my God is very much alive. Instead of spending excessive amounts of money, and putting yourselves in debt, to erect a cross upon a parking lot, you should have taken the time to go out on visitation to the neighborhoods surrounding your church, knocking upon doors, asking people to come to church. Which, prayerfully, would have lead to people hearing Jesus knocking upon the door of their hearts, and with your help, they would have answered His knock, and been saved. Jesus paid our debt already upon the cross, now we are to share Him with others. We should be pointing the way to Jesus, not to the bank to make a payment. Thank You Jesus for forgiving us when we mess up. Help us to get our act together, before it is too late.

18 comments:

GranthamLynn said...

So true. Amen sister. It hurts my soul when our funders lower the amount or stop altogether when they build a new building. Our church hasn't gone so far as to send a letter like that thank goodness. They cut our funding in half last(we only have the two churchs) fall in the middle of their fiscal year w/o notice. A second church just gave us notice they are cutting us back. It gets harder and harder for us. What you said made such sense. Church isn't what it was when we were kids when the church actually went into the neighborhood and served the community. I miss that. I am glad God has given us this ministry. Thanks for sharing this thought and thanks for the beautiful card this morning! Gotta run and 'tell em about Jesus'.
Love,
Sherry

Cranberry Morning said...

Excellent post, Denise. There's also so much money spent on fancy buildings, sound systems, entertainment for the youth - rather than simply preaching the Word of God.

Tara said...

I couldn't agree more Denise!!!

Karen said...

What a shame...

Connie Arnold said...

Amen to that, Denise! Great post!

Linda said...

This is all so true.

And actually by them sending those letters out to the community begging people for money for the payment to the bank...will just give people a reason to call Christians names...and that reflects back onto Christ. It probably made people NOT want to visit that church.

Kinda sad really.

Linda @ Truthful Tidbits

Lisa said...

Denise
On our vacation we passed two crosses overlooking the freeway. I wonder if you are speaking of one of these, they are big and white. Joel got all excited because he yelled out, "look there is Jesus' Cross" I kind of thought it was a very nice reminder of what Christ did for us and I thought you were getting a letter from someone to actually request your signature to have it removed....I hope they get the funds to pay for it because being an "out of towner" it was encouraging to see it. Hope to see you soon.

Saleslady371 said...

I agree. And then I thought "how must we look to a dead and dying world of unbelievers out there" with such a letter?

RCUBEs said...

The very thing that some churches do for the Lord becomes their own idols sometimes. It's all about Him. Even sadder when they use the Name of the Lord for their own gain. God bless.

God Whispers said...

Perfect post here Denise. Blessings.

Loren said...

So sad Denise! Yet it happens in so many churches anymore! If only they would just get back to what the Lord wants..... and debt is not even close to being a part of that!

Love you

More Than Words said...

Amen! I'm glad that God gave you the discernment about that.

i said...

So true. Sadly it's happening here too. Church buildings are getting bigger along with bigger amount of financing for them. Almost every service is about raising funds for these mega buildings instead of for the needy and poor.

Irene said...

Amen and very much so. I recognize the attitude (such a loss of time and effort) and I agree with you. dear Denise. I think the evil one does his best to disorient even well meaning , faithful people, if that was the case I do not know, but yes, there is so much attention paid to the material and so much less in the spiritual. I think it is the same case as it is with kids in our consumerist social and economic model: shower them with stuff to show that you care.

Jocelyn said...

Amen, amen, and amen. Churches have become the very same place that upset Jesus during His time. It's not a business place. Rather, it's the house of prayer. Sadly only relatively few view it as such anymore.

LAURIE said...

Denise, how thought provoking and true! Not only is this true of our churches but how about in our own pocketbooks? Sometimes just by looking into our own checkbooks we can see where our heart is also ... at walmart or our local church or even missions! If the purchase of new clothes far outweighs giving to God, then possibly we have our own cross in our own driveway! I know I can do better in this area. Love and appreciate your heart for God! <3

Anne Lang Bundy said...

How ironic. The point of the cross was to pay a debt, not incur one.

Love you!

Love Bears All Things said...

I feel just the same way about the extravagance that some church buildings put into appearance...The Church is not a building it is a body of believers..sure we need a place to fellowship and worship together but it doesn't have to look like a work of art...
Blessings,
Mama Bear