Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs

Today’s reading (John 3) contains the famous verse, often held up on signs at football games, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

And there are some interesting verses about people loving darkness because you can sin in the dark without it being exposed. Many would say that’s Las Vegas. It’s a city built for the night, and most of what happens does so after dark. And so perhaps more than anywhere else, it needs to know and understand John 3:16.

But here’s the irony… You see Christians in Vegas, at night, holding up signs, but the signs loudly declare who God hates, and who He’s going to condemn, and seem to take joy in the idea of eternal punishment. And the reason it’s ironic is John 3:17. It’s the very next verse, but you never see it on signs. It says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Isn’t that ironic? That Jesus did not come to condemn, but for some reason many of His followers feel they can? Apparently they have a higher pay grade than Jesus and perhaps there are some responsibilities He couldn’t handle, but for which they’re fully capable.

Well, all I can say is that we did not come to Vegas to condemn, or to lift up signs spewing hate, but rather to lift up Jesus, who loves, offers grace, and has the power to save those stuck in the darkness.