A Few Bars From The Jail

Recently I had an occasion to chat with a colleague in the plastics industry on a social basis. We were discussing the various ornamentation people wear. You know what I mean, the Icthus (the fish symbol), the cross on a chain and the WWJD bracelets that were so popular a few years ago.

We talked about how people wear things to identify themselves as part of this group or that. How we are proud of our accomplishments and display them like ribbons on a uniform – I must admit I wear a lapel pin that indicates I have achieved a certain level of responsibility in a professional society that I am a member of. We display our crosses, our “Fish,” our footprints and our doves all to say that we belong to a group known as “Christian.” However, the question came, do we really live like the emblems we so proudly wear or is it just for show. I asked myself the question “Do I display “Christ-Likeness” in my dealings or is my PARAKLETOS “Dove” just a fa?ade to make me feel good about me?” Sometimes it is good to ask yourself these kinds of questions.

As the conversation went on we talked about weather it was still in vogue to display these symbols of faith, or if folk are put off by them. We even questioned if these icons are recognized anymore or have become as commonplace as billboards along the highway. For the sake of the Church in America, I can only hope that we have not blended into the background so well that we aren’t even recognized as Christians any longer.

I believe that the answers we came away with are useful to us all:

• Being a Christian isn’t a Sunday Morning exercise
• Wearing an emblem doesn’t make one any more or less a Christian – in some instances it only shows the greater hypocrisy
• While the icons may make us feel good about ourselves, they are more useful to remind us of where we once were
• If we dare to wear the “Logo Christian” on our car or lapel we must always remember whom it is we are promoting and do with the honor HE deserves!
• Scott