Road Signs...

I was in Viborg (pronounced Viberg) South Dakota a couple of weeks ago for a wedding (yay Kyle and Penny!) and while there did a fair amount of driving on roads with which I was unfamiliar. In fact, at one point, my friend Drew (who was sitting shotgun and operating as Navigator for our travels) said, "Man! there aren't any signs for anything!? It's like they expect you to know where you are and where you are going?!"

To which I replied, "Hey, that will PREACH!"

So, at the very least, we'll Blog it!

While driving to the wedding we found it necessary, because of flooded roads, to take a detour from the route we were on. See photo below...


So... we decided to go out of our way about 1/2 mile to a little town and ask for directions around the closed road and a new path to the wedding.

We pulled into this little parking lot and this older gentleman on a riding mower greeted us like the strangers-from-the-north that we were and we asked him for directions. He proceeded to tell us to go "through town to the gas station... I think it's a Cenex... and turn right. And after going West for a while... go North again and that will get you to Viborg."

"Thanks a lot!"

Much like the lack of signs on the roads we were driving, this guy expected us to know how far West to travel, when to turn North, and even where "town" was in relation to where we were at the moment!

Needless to say, it was a Sinclair gas station and we did make it to Viborg in plenty of time for smiles, pictures and a great Celebration at the Wedding... however, since then, two things have been rolling around in the back of my mind:

1 - Often we use things like the 10 commandments as the map of "how to live"... like a job description or map for life and just HOPE we don't deviate off course... 'cause then what? Should we really look at them in that way?
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2 - How much to I expect that people should know where to go (in relationship to Jesus, morality, Truth, etc.) when there are few road signs and REALLY what they need is someone who can give them directions.

Romans 10:14-17 has been really challenging on this and I'll un-pack the 2nd question in light of the Romans 10 passage in the coming days.

Right now, my Church here, Bethel, is in the midst of a great series on the 10 commandments (http://www.bethelfc.com/listen.html - starting June 1st) and so perhaps I will take on the 10 Commandments in a couple of weeks and post my thoughts here... but for now, we'll stick with question 2...