Recently, I was in the North Shore area building a wine cellar. On the first day of the job, as I was driving, I saw a Bakers Square sign. The odd thing is that I didn’t see a Bakers Square, just an empty lot.

Weeds were starting to spring up through the cracks, and the black top was crumbling and cracking. I remember thinking to myself, “That’s weird.”

To make things even more confusing, the sign that stood by the curb was in great shape — lit up, newly painted, and strategically placed where everyone could see it as they drove by. All week I drove past that sign, and all week I tried and tried to find the restaurant.

“There has to be a restaurant,” I said to myself. But for the life of me, day after day, all I could see was an empty lot with a beautiful sign. Who in their right mind keeps up a sign when there is no building?

I was so confused that one day I actually took my sunglasses off just to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Needless to say, nothing changed. There was no building!

As I continued driving, I was reminded how easily and quickly “church” can become like that Bakers Square lot. We can easily erect a shiny sign and a cool advertising slogan. We can wow the masses with our curbside appeal. We can easily maintain and control the image we project to a watching world.

But is there really an empty lot behind the amazing sign? Are we invisible to a watching and seeking world? Are we spending all our time on the appearance while the lot crumbles and cracks? Do we spend all our time and money on the sign, leaving ourselves nothing to feed the people with?

I pray that we are a people and a church that spend more time on the restaurant than the sign!

Ben