The Signs Exist to Convert the Converted

When driving to visit our son, Hans, the GPS usually takes us through the forests and pastures of eastern Texas. We travel around big towns and through the small ones. and going by the back roads is actually faster than trying to get to Hans’ home by freeway. However, we often need to slow down along the way. The advantage to reducing speed is that it gives the traveler the opportunity to observe his or her surroundings. I try to do that.

I’ve noticed than that in the small Texan towns, regardless of size, there seems to be at least half a dozen churches, usually a mixture of Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal. Near Huntsville I saw a congregation called “Branded for Christ.” That looked interesting, but rather weird. It sounded like a cowboy cult. In any case, the spiritual soil of eastern Texas is supersaturated with Calvinism. It permeates everything. The region is definitely part of the Bible Belt.

Also, I’ve noticed a plethora of billboards with Christian themes along the highways. We have those up north too, but not in such profusion. It makes me wonder what the purpose of these are and who the audience is. It baffles me.

It appears to be a hard sell form of evangelization, but I can’t figure out who the sponsors of the billboards are trying to reach. I don’t think they are trying to reach people who have never heard of Jesus. I doubt that anyone living in the area falls into that category. Even if by chance, a religiously ignorant person traveled through the region, they would most likely just be puzzled by the messages on the signs.

A popular message on the billboards is “Jesus is the Answer!”. My immediate response to that is “What was the question?” Another classic line is “Jesus Saves!” I mentioned that sentence to a friend of mine at the synagogue. He smiled and quipped,

“Jesus saves. Moses invests.”

There is the possibility that the billboards are there to call back the backsliders. I guess then the question is how far have they backslid? To make sense of the signs, a person to have some understanding and appreciation the Christian tradition. However, if the individual has totally jettisoned that belief system, then the billboards are ineffective. If a person thinks that the Bible is just a book like any other book, it was all a waste of money and effort to use that message to reach them.

I am thinking that the billboards are mainly to encourage the true believers to stay the course. The signs exist to convert the converted. 

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Frank (Francis) Pauc is a graduate of West Point, Class of 1980. He completed the Military Intelligence Basic Course at Fort Huachuca and then went to Flight School at Fort Rucker. Frank was stationed with the 3rd Armor Division in West Germany at Fliegerhorst Airfield from December 1981 to January 1985. He flew Hueys and Black Hawks and was next assigned to the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, CA. He got the hell out of the Army in August 1986.

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