I’ve been driving by a particular church sign for the past few weeks that’s been driving me crazy. Every time I pass I consider my issues with the sign. I’ve finally decided to sit down and write them all out. 

Here’s the Church Sign

Abraham walked by faith- do you? 

There are 5 main issues I have with this sign. I know this is a deep dive into something that may seem trivial. However, as a follower of Jesus, we should consider carefully the impact of the messages we share publicly. Those messages reflect on our individual church, the Church at large, and even God Himself.

The message is a problem

What is this sign trying to say?
Is it a warning? It is saying that a person named Abraham walked by faith so you better do so as well- or else? Is it meant to elicit guilt assuming that you clearly don’t walk by faith as much as you should, and definitely not as much as Abraham? It clearly assumes the reader is trying to emulate the life of Abraham and then asking whether or not they measure up, while slightly insinuating they probably don’t. 

If we assume positive intent, the message could act as a reminder that, as people trying to become more like Abraham, we should remember to walk by faith. Whether the goal is guilt, shame, or reminding, the message is confusing and unhelpful. 

The phrasing is a problem

There are 3 parts of this sign a person would have to understand in order to grasp its message.

1. Abraham. A person must know who Abraham is in the Bible and all about his story.
   
2. Faith. A person would have to understand the definition of faith. At first, this may sound easy. Faith is just….well….faith- right? However, faith can mean many different things in different situations. The topic of faith will be addressed in the section considering problems with theology. But consider the following uses of the term. Something can be done in “good” or “bad” faith. These may refer to contracts and other transactions. A person can be faithful or unfaithful. People are encouraged to “keep the faith” and to “have faith”. In 1987 singer George Michael sang about waiting for love in his song Faith.  The term faith isn’t as easily grasped as one may think.
3. “Walk by faith”. If faith is a complex term to understand, then what does it mean for a person to “walk by faith”? This colloquial Christian phrase comes from a verse in the Bible. If a person was unfamiliar with that passage it could be misinterpreted to mean a person should physically walk through life believing the ground they walk on will not disappear. The meaning of this phrase is unclear and will be confusing to many.      

The tone is a problem 

Every statement we make has an explicit and implicit message. For example, if my wife notices a coffee cup I left on the counter she could comment, “So, were you planning to leave this coffee cup here for me to put away”? Taking this statement at face value, my sweet wife is genuinely curious about my intentions for the coffee cup and wonders if I was hoping she’d put it away. However, underneath her words are the implication, “Hey lazy husband, for the 100th time, why don’t you get off your butt and put your coffee cup in the dishwasher. I’m tired of doing it!” The explicit and implicit message matters.  

 Turning our attention to the church sign, there are problems with the implied tones of the message. These will be easier to see when changing the context of the sign. 

What if your spouse said, “Our neighbor Kevin keeps his yard mowed, why don’t you?”
What if your parent said, “Your sister Elsa got a B in science, what about you?”
What if your boss said, “Apple CEO Tim Cook begins emailing employees at 4:30 AM, what about you?”
What if your coach said, “Venus and Serena Williams got up at 6 AM to hit tennis balls every day, what about you?”

The tone of these statements isn’t very nice. Is it really that helpful to compare yourself to the fabled feats of a famous person? Especially if it’s implied that you should be doing the exact same thing as them.       

The audience is a problem

Who is the ideal audience for this sign? Is it mean for followers of Jesus or people who would not consider themselves Christians? 

If intended for people who aren’t Christians

The person who put up the sign may hope that a person who isn’t a Christian would see this sign, understand it completely, and feel bad that they’re not a Christian. I’m guessing it should make that person want to become a person of “faith”. 

As previously discussed, there are many problems with this. A person with no faith background wouldn’t understand this sign. It might as well say, “Benjamin lived a life of jealously, do you?” It would mean nothing to them. 

 On top of that, it implies a feeling of guilt. Is this really how a Christian hopes to convince a person to become a follower of Jesus? Jesus came to offer everyone the fullest life possible- and this is good news for the world. If you offered me a pill that would help me lose weight and build muscle, you wouldn’t need to guilt me into it. I wouldn’t need a sign that said, “Hey fattie, if you ate less and took our magic pill you’d lose weight.” You could just say, “Hey you, great news, we have a magic pill that will help you lose weight and build muscle today!”     

If intended for Christians

If we assume a Christian fully understands all the pieces of this sign (which they probably don’t), then the intended message is still to make them feel bad that they’re not doing enough. This is not helpful. 

The theology is a problem

There are two pieces to touch on here, the concept of faith and the person of Abraham. 

1. Faith

The term faith can have many different meanings. Faith can refer to a person’s general belief system. People could be asked to share their “faith story”. In doing this, they would share how they chose to become a follower of Jesus. 

Faith can be a feeling or a “persuasion of the mind” where a person believes something may be true even if they can’t see evidence for it.

In some circles of Christianity, faith is like a muscle. This muscle must be worked and developed to convince God to do things you hope He’ll do.  

The concept of faith can be misused and manipulated by bad people. Imagine what happens when an ignominious leader suggests any questioning of his leadership is due to a lack of faith in God. Suddenly blind support of a leader’s worst behaviors becomes aligned with faith in God.  

Faith can be general or specific. Specifically, a person can maintain faith while facing a difficult circumstance. This would mean they would hold on to the hope that God is working behind the scenes. In the general sense, maintaining faith could mean living with the daily belief that God is in charge and at work behind the scenes. This is probably the definition intended by this sign.  

Overall, the concept of faith is too complicated a concept to throw on a sign, suggesting the passerby doesn’t have enough of it.

2. Abraham

Abraham’s life becomes more complicated when you stop and think about it. As a quick overview, most of Abraham’s life is undocumented as he wandered about in the desert. At one point, in order to protect his own life in Egypt, he allowed his wife to become a wife of Pharaoh. Strangely enough, this wasn’t the only time Abraham pulled the, “She’s not my wife, she’s my sister” card. 

God promised Abraham would one day be the father of many. In the meantime, Abraham slept with a  maidservant of his wife Sarah (with her encouragement) and she had a son named Ishmael. More years passed and when Abraham and Sarah were old, they had a son named Isaac. Interspersed in this story were a few times when God promised that Abraham’s kids would outnumber the stars and Abraham believed Him. Abraham is so well known for his faith because of these specific situations.  

Here’s the deal. No character in the Bible is perfect. It’s what gives us hope that great people in the Bible weren’t superheroes. They were regular people with doubt, fear, and messed up stories, who found opportunities to believe in God during challenging times.  

However, we should be cautious to place Abraham’s faith on an untouchable pedestal. It wasn’t faith that led him to sleep with his wife’s maidservant. It wasn’t through faith that he allowed his wife to be taken by Pharaoh or another king later in their lives. I’m not sure that’s the kind of faith we should so quickly suggest that everyone emulate.

What Christians Should Learn about Church Signs

Sometimes when a group only hangs around other people just like them, they develop their own sayings that are confusing to the outside world. For example, my kids are trying to explain to me what a try hard is and why people who are good at video games are told to touch grass. The language of young people is ever-changing.

So it is with Christians. We say things that sometimes make no sense to the outside world. And, to be honest, these sayings make no sense to us either when we stop to think about what we’re actually saying. What is a hedge of protection? Can you easily explain what glorify or exalt mean? What does it mean to tell someone to be blessed?  You can read more on this topic here.

We live in a world that increasingly finds the message of Jesus unnecessary. Therefore, we can’t waste time or space with messages blaming the world for its brokenness. One of my favorite verses from the Message translation of the Bible is John 3:17. This verse explains, “God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.” Jesus came to help. In a world where so many people are just trying to make it through another week- Jesus came to help. That’s good news. These are the messages we should be sharing with the world. And these are the kinds of messages we should share on our church signs.