Mixed Messages

I was on my way to the store and I got caught at a red light.  As I am partial to doing, I looked around to see what I could learn.  Something rather amusing caught my eye.  It concerned mixed messages.  On a house across the street was a deli-type sign.  The kind that you can slide the letters into to say what the day's special is.  Well on it was a bible verse.  I can't recall the exact verse but it dealt with the house being the Lord's and all of that jazz.  It gave you a warm fuzzy feeling.  You might have thought, "Wow, what commitment.  What boldness.  What fire for the faith."  Or maybe you might have thought, "They ought to tone it  down a bit."  But whatever your first impression, it would have been changed when your eyes dropped about four feet.  That's where the sign that read "Beware of Dog" was hanging.

            So many of us are like that.  Whether we like to admit it or not.  We put on a front that proclaims the love of Christ and shows arms open to accept others as He did, but right below that we have our "Beware of Dog" sign.  We send mixed messages.  We say, "Come closer... but not too close."  "We are all equal in God's eyes...  but not in mine."  "I love all of God's children... if you can get past Spike the rabid pit bull."

            We know we should act as He did, and yet, in fear, we have reservations.  We want to have Christian fellowship... as long as...  the fellows are the right color, or are of the right social class, or whatever else we decide.  Take one look at the group of hooligans Jesus walked with and you will realize that He wasn't as picky as we are. 

            Take a closer look at your fence.  The fence you have around yourself.  What signs hang there?  Are you sending mixed messages?  Is there a sign that says "Welcome" not far from the one that warns "Beware of Dog"?  Think of this... If your house were a kennel would the doors be open to only one breed of dog? 

            The Good Book says that people will know that we are Christians by our love.  Do they?

SDG