I was cleaning out one of our
closets a few days ago and ran across my wedding rings. Not sure if anyone even
knows this except for my wife, but it took a long time to pick a ring. I really
wanted a ring to show my faith, so I found a couple of options that I bought
online to try out. One was a big black one with a cross and Celtic decorations
surrounding it, another was a bit smaller and with a simple swirling fish like
design. They were both a bit thick, but I was so excited to wear a ring with a
message. After a few months of wearing it I got annoyed with its size,
especially in the IT world. Eventually I changed it out for a simple aluminum
one that I bought in a market while Katherine and I were in Philadelphia. I
still have both the rings hanging out in the closet, never sold them for some
reason.
As I looked at the rings sitting
there I started to ponder. I wanted the ring to be a symbol of our marriage and
to show that I was a Christian. I wanted people to know that my faith was important
to me. But what does it look like to really show your faith in this world? Does having a big ring, carrying a
big Bible, wearing a bold Christian T-shirt, and a "witnessing" sticker on your
car really show a transformed life anyways? I used to think that showing your
faith meant these things. As the years go by I find more and more that symbols
have not helped me become part of the solution, but part of the problem. Logically,
did I really think someone would look at my shirt and say, "Wow, that
makes me want to become a Christian!"
I look back to what it meant to be a
Christian in the time of Christ, when it had little to do with the external
symbolism. The fish symbol is a good example. They used the symbol to show that
they were Christians, but in the underground since revealing your faith meant persecution or death. The real power that was seen among the Christians was internal transformation through the Spirit's work, and externally showing the love of Christ to those
around them. Perhaps we believe this because of the materialistic world we live in, where identity
has to do with the clothes that you wear, the car you drive, the college you
attended, your job, or the church you identify with.
Even so, my conclusions were somewhat countered in
the Old Testament. The priests would have
scripture draped over their robes, on their forehead, on the door of their house, and so on. Would this be the same thing? Could be, but
it was not for me. My shirts were not about celebrating the new life I had in Christ,
but political ideologies like my “Christianity is not a Religion” shirt. This
was less about Christ and more about making a statement that I wanted to fight
about. It was true that I wanted to share my faith in the fight, but how often does that work? There are lots of symbols like this around, very hurtful to the ultimate purpose of
the Gospel since we usually combine the symbol with things that are not beneficial, or not scriptural.
Perhaps stripping off the material
will expose that these are just coverings that are trying to hide us from the true Joy of following Jesus. If we can attract those around us to Him
through pure love and heart transformation rather than just outer appearances, then perhaps they can see the real Christ. Doing so will also drive our deep
need to depend on Him and not symbols that could distort truth. We forgive
because He forgave. We love because He first loved us. We are redeemed because
He is good. What do we need besides Him? Nothing! It is a good thing too, I
probably did not reflect Christ very well while I was cutting people off in
traffic with a fish symbol on my car.
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