Packed for VBS Cartoon

Since the first word of VBS suggests we’re going on a vacation. I had some fun with the ideas and drew this Packed for VBS cartoon.

When you think about it, vacation Bible school is false advertising. After all, shouldn’t it be called staycation Bible school? This isn’t an all-inclusive vacation to Cancun. We can try to use props to make the sanctuary look like a jungle or the Holy Land. But we’re not fooling anyone over six years old.

Church Jargon

Every group has jargon that sounds like gibberish to those outside the group. Since we’ve had a good two-thousand years to develop our own jargon, the church is full of idioms.

And of course, we can be tempted to overuse phrases that signal we are on the inside of a group. Without meaning to, we can make others feel like outsiders. Besides, if we don’t stop to think about it, many of our phrases can be meaningless. Who doesn’t love such phrases as:

• Bathed in prayer
• Hedge of protection
• prayer chain
• prayer circle
• Laid on my heart
• Led by the Spirit
• Love offering
• Anointed sermon
• The list goes on, and on, and on…

We find ourselves saying phrases that either have lost their meaning or we never really knew the purpose to begin with. And I’m sure there are phrases unique to your church tradition that would leave me clueless.

That said, why did vacation become part of VBS? Sure, I know these events happen during summer vacation for most churches. But would there be a better way to say it? It’s too late to change it now, though. We have too much printed material that goes back decades.

Therefore, be sure your bags are packed since it’s VBS time. And while you are at it, enjoy this Packed for VBS cartoon. Besides, staycation Bible school doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Editor’s Note: I originally published this blog on October 6, 2015. I revamped and updated it for timeliness and comprehensiveness.