Thursday, August 19, 2010

Yard Sign Evangelism

We've got a primary election here in South Florida, which means that many yards have a clutter of political signs. I've noticed amongst them some signs with a simple Bible verse. Actually, it's not the verse spelled out. It's the book, the chapter, and the verse(s). There's the ubiquitous John 3:16, of course ("For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life"). Today I saw Ephesians 2: 9-10, which I came home and looked up; it's mid-sentence, so I'm including verse 8 too: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

These are not the verses I would put in my yard. These are not the verses that I imagine would speak to a non-believer. In fact, I don't understand why these people don't put the actual verse on the yard sign--there's room. Why do they think that someone will go home and look up the Bible verse?

These morning ponderings made my mind turn towards this question: what Bible chapter and verse would I put in my yard? Are the verses that speak to me the verses that would speak to a non-believer? I've had the phrase "ministry of reconciliation" in my head, so maybe it would be 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verses 16-19: "16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view;* even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view,* we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,* not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us."

Those verses speaks to me, but I don't know if it would speak to others. There are many verses from the Psalms that cry out to me. Would they cry out from my front yard? Would they catch the attention of anyone else?

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