I noticed the following church sign earlier this week.

I am sure that some have driven by the sign and have given it two thumbs up (hopefully, without taking their hands off the wheel). I am sure that others have driven by the sign and have wanted to remove it in disgust. In my neck of the woods, most will fall into the first category. I find myself siding more closely with the latter group.

The sign bothers me. Ask my wife. I have talked too much about the sign. I cannot get the sign off my mind. Thus, the blog post.

I guess part of the reason the sign bothers me is the reason that most church signs bother me. It’s so hard, if not impossible, to condense significant theological tenets into 10 word sentences.

I find myself wanting to analyze the sign. I first wonder to which sin the sign refers. Because it is most recently in the news, I would guess the debate over the legalization of marijuana would be toward the top of the list. It’s likely the abortion issue would be there, too. Gay marriage probably comes close to the top of the list. My assumption is that these would be the top three, in no particular order.

And that’s where we run into a problem. Where does one stop? Some believe the legalization of alcohol was legalizing sin. Maybe we could add that to the list. Divorce would probably make an honorable mention on the list. Where does one draw the line? Which sins make the cut and which ones don’t?

What about this one? “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Hmm. I just wonder if the person who took the time to carefully place the words on the sign went out to eat last Sunday after church. Well, some may say that eating out on Sunday is causing someone to work on Sunday, which, in turn, is not keeping the Sabbath holy. Is working on Sunday (which is legal) a sin? If so, please add it to the list.

Splitting hairs, you say? Yes, I am guilty as charged. And that’s the point. Where does one stop? You see, the sign doesn’t say which sins to stop legalizing. It just says that if we want God to bless America, that we need to stop legalizing them.

And therein lies another issue. The statement on the sign is a clear “if…then” conditional. In essence, the sign is telling us that “God will not bless America unless…” or that “God will bless America if and only if….”

What a dangerous condition to declare. What we have is a church (or pastor) declaring unequivocally what must be done in all of America to ensure God’s blessing upon the entire country. Really? Is it that simple?

If you are a cheerleader for the sign, let me ask you some questions. (I am not asking these questions in anger. So I apologize if they sound snarky.) Do you really believe the Christian life can be simplified to the point of checklists – what one can do and what one cannot do? Do you really believe that if all the laws that have legalized what you consider to be sin were reversed, then and only then would God bless America? Seriously, what gives you the right to make that declaration for an entire country? What gives you the right to make that decision for anyone but yourself?

There was a group of very religious people who lived in New Testament days. They followed the law better than anyone else. They had their checklists down to a science. And they were very quick to let others know when others didn’t measure up. I would encourage you to read what Jesus had to say about the self-righteous scribes and pharisees in the New Testament.

We get ourselves into trouble when we start creating checklists in regard to God’s blessing. Growing up in a Baptist church, I remember the offering envelopes that had places to check the following:

Present

Bible Brought

Bible Read Daily

Worship Attendance

Contacts (how many people did you contact)

Giving (how much are you giving)

I always thought it was odd that someone in the church was actually keeping up with those statistics. And I wondered why in the world it was anyone’s business whether I read my Bible daily. And…I wondered if anyone other than me was ever tempted to “fudge” on their responses. But that’s “Checklist Christianity.” We start asking how we measure up to others or whether someone measures up to us. It served no good purpose then and it serves no good purpose now. The God we serve and the grace He offers is much bigger than a checklist.

So how do we know when or if God has or will bless America? He already has.

Please know that God has blessed me and God has blessed you and God has blessed every person inside and outside of America. When God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ – when God came to live among us and was crucified and conquered death once and for all. That’s when God blessed us.

You see, we are no longer defined by checklists. We are defined by our relationship with God in Jesus Christ.