Church Billboard Responds to Thief: “Stealing from God… Ballsy”
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Thu, April 03, 2008
- Viewed 387
- (77) comments so far
You can also check out their website here.
Thanks for the heads, up Steve!
What do you think about Kinetic Church’s plans to reach out to the thief who stole nearly everything they had?
Ok... here's the scenario: You're a theatre church, and one of the trailers that houses all of your church's stuff is stolen. What is your response? Well, when this happened to Kinetic Church, they decided to go on the offensive, purchasing billboards and creating a Youtube Video aimed directly at the thief. Take a look...
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Wendi on Thu, April 03, 2008
Doesn’t it seem like the billboard and the video are the opposite messages? One is saying, “Hey punk, you have a lot of nerve to steal from God. We’re mad and so is He” The other, “Hey, we’ve all done bad stuff like stealing, and worse. We’re not mad. We forgive you and want to know you and love you.”
I affirm the latter but not the billboard, because I don’t like the term “ballsy” or the message it’s sending.
Wendi
CS on Thu, April 03, 2008
Peter:
“Another of those interesting instances here where you and I basically totally agree.”
I know you’re being honest, because April Fool’s was two days ago! =)
Wendi:
You said that one far better than I could. Way to go! =)
—
CS
Frank on Thu, April 03, 2008
A lot of you are missing the message here.
This is a great modern example of a church laying its collective heart wide open for the world to examine. I don’t care if they said any one of a number of coarse descriptors, what matters is that they said the truth, in a very compelling way. Be offended if you have to be, but DON’T miss the message or try to think that the message changes because of one word you don’t like.
CS on Thu, April 03, 2008
Frank:
“I don’t care if they said any one of a number of coarse descriptors, what matters is that they said the truth, in a very compelling way. “
By that token, would it be okay if they dropped an f-bomb into the middle of their sign?
—
CS
Frank on Thu, April 03, 2008
CS - what do you think the unfortunate person said when he found out the trailer was gone?
“Oh mercy me, our trailer has been purloined!” But seriously, you’re still missing the message and getting caught up in one single word, which is immaterial to this church’s message to the thief. Too often, we Christians can’t accept a message if it’s not written or spoken exactly to our liking. Jesus said a few things about this, I think.
CS on Thu, April 03, 2008
Frank:
“what do you think the unfortunate person said when he found out the trailer was gone?
“Oh mercy me, our trailer has been purloined!” “
I’m sure that the people who found the trailer was missing had some emotions influencing their thoughts and language, sure. But that wasn’t what I asked. If “ballsy” is satisfactory, would it be okay to drop an f-bomb into the middle of their sign?
—
CS
Stewart on Thu, April 03, 2008
I think it “might” be okay to drop the F-Bomb. We’d be talking about it internationally - that’s for sure! http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
I wonder about the time Jesus called the Pharisees a “brood of vipers”. And he did it publicly.
Was “brood of vipers” an ancient equivalent of using profanity to describe people? I don’t know the answer, but I suspect so. I don’t use language like that in my church (or in my life for that matter) but I don’t have a very successful ministry with people who steal church trailers either.
The immorality of profane language has nothing to do with some inherent badness in the word and has everything to do with the spirit (anger) in which it is said and the purpose (to hurt someone else) for which it is uttered. That can be done with profanity or with flattering words.
The billboard is not angry or hurtful. I think it communicates something more like “We’re hurt. You got us good. (insert sheepish smile here) That took guts.” It’s kind of showing respect for the thief. Sort of like the parable Jesus tells of the shrewd manager. He was ballsy. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
Andy Wood on Thu, April 03, 2008
While we’re all chatting about the use of one word on apparently one billboard, please note that the church has other messages on other billboards. Check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kineticchurch/2384280596/in/set-72157604360183544/
MC on Thu, April 03, 2008
I am a member of Kinetic Church and I can tell you that we were really hurt when the trailer was stolen, but seriously- who are we to condemn them for doing something wrong when we all sin daily. We can’t cast stones because we are not without blemish. If you think it is ballsy to use the word “ballsy,” then fine. Move past it, please. The billboards are to get the attention of the people that stole the trailer and get our message across that we forgive them. If we wrote “We forgive you” on a sign, would it make as big of an impact? Also, our church does not cater to the people who do not like church. We just have some people that attend church because somebody dragged them out of bed one morning and made them go. They realized that they might actually like church, so they keep coming. What is so wrong with being a progressive church? There is nothing wrong with our theology. Our beliefs come directly from the Bible itself. We may do things that are out of the box, but how can we reach those that don’t know him if we don’t think this way?
AM on Thu, April 03, 2008
Hi CS,
I attend Kinetic Church. We are a Bible believing Evangelical Christian church with a missional perspective. I believe the actual quote that you keep misquoting from our pastor is: “We even have people in our church who don’t like Christian people, which is interesting…”
You may be interested in knowing, many of these particular people (at Kinetic) who thought they did not like Christians have been very hurt in their past by legalistic, hypocritical, pharisaical Christians that have chosen to condemn and cast stones instead of coming alongside and discipling an individual.
I believe many churches have these…what did Jesus call them…oh yes, white washed tombs!
Don’t worry that you did not like the word “ballsy”. It was not meant for you or for others who are churched. It was meant to reach out, not just to the thieves, but to those who are lost and hurting. To those with really messy lives who feel they have no hope.
Didn’t Isaiah say all our righteousness was like filthy rags, and weren’t those menstrual rags? Yes, I went there!
Thanks - AM
nathan on Fri, April 04, 2008
i also am a part of Kinetic Church. and it’s a big part of me. i found it after being hurt and burned by another church where i led worship for 4 years. they reached out to me after i didn’t like church.
C.S. - it’s great that you have already judged the theology of our church based on one line - and one line that you didn’t even get right. as has been stated, we don’t cater to people who don’t like church. if you’ll listen again to what dave says, we have people in our midst who don’t like christians. and he says he finds that interesting. don’t you?
it’s not about the one word, used on one sign, but about the message of the balls it takes to rebel against God, and the forgiveness that is offered. we don’t have to defend the message. Jesus pissed a lot of people off with this message, too.
CS on Fri, April 04, 2008
I want to thank the people from Kinetic Church who have chimed in here and added their insight onto things.
MC:
“If we wrote “We forgive you” on a sign, would it make as big of an impact?”
Like Wendi said, the message on the billboard bordered on condemnation, but the message in the video was forgiving. That’s what leads to a little confusion here.
AM:
“Don’t worry that you did not like the word “ballsy”. It was not meant for you or for others who are churched. It was meant to reach out, not just to the thieves, but to those who are lost and hurting. To those with really messy lives who feel they have no hope.”
Should I reach out to others who are hurting by using profanity? How about a billboard with a scantily-clad person?
nathan:
“if you’ll listen again to what dave says, we have people in our midst who don’t like christians. and he says he finds that interesting. don’t you?”
Actually, I find that disappointing, because we are called to love the brethren and to enjoy being around them. (1 John)
—
CS
Leonard on Fri, April 04, 2008
CS,
I would suggest opening up to what people are saying not looking for the flaw. Of course we are called to love one another, but that is both a process and a decision. No one at Kinetic disputes that call and for you to suggest it means you have not heard them at all.
So here is a church plant that gets ripped off and in keeping with their DNA they offer forgiveness. Hmm, don’t think that is gonna fly in heaven. As for the word ballsy… don’t create a false argument about scantily clad… or profanity. They didn’t do that nor are they advocating that. That is just another way to pronounce judgments on someone else without having to listen to them.
J on Fri, April 04, 2008
I attend Kinetic Church and I have to say that I disagree with everything about the Billboards. Who cares about the message we’re trying to communicate to the theives, the central problem is that EVERYONE can see the billboards and NONE of them communicates the love and forgiveness we have through Jesus.
As a church, we hear about the trailer week in and week out. At first it was an uplifiting experience and we were drawn together. But now it seems that we just can’t let it go and get on with the ministry. Everything that was stolen was just stuff, most of which either has been or will be replaced.
If you didn’t see, there were about 25-30 possible billboards, only one of which communicated forgiveness. It is a travesty that our pastor relies on people with such condemnation in their hearts. As such I can not agree with the direction of our church and will likely be searching for a new one.
The real issue is that the if one person is kept from being introduced to Christ by this campaign, then the price was too high.
Dave Milam on Fri, April 04, 2008
J,
I can’t even begin to describe how deeply that comment hurt me.
Dave
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