Thursday, June 25, 2015

Symbols....

When reading recent articles about the confederate flag and what it symbolizes, it caused me to reflect on Christianity and the symbol of the cross in our modern day culture. If I accept that symbols do in fact change over time depending on their use, then I understand the confederate flag and its' recent use to symbolize hatred, and hence is viewed as a hurtful symbol by a majority of people.

How about the cross then? It is used to symbolize Christianity, yet a lot of wars are fought in the name of religion. This causes a lot of anxiety among church goers who are anti-war, yet while in the pulpit there are prayers for our military. We also know symbols are often hijacked and used for personal agendas, so how do we proceed?

 In the bible it states that if I use my freedom to hurt another person then I am in fact guilty of making that person fall. 1st Corinthians 8:13 "Therefore, if food that I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, in order to keep my brother from stumbling."

As Christians we are called to model Christ's love. John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have eternal life."


Are we as professed Christians modeling that type of love to our neighbors and the world in which we live through our speech and our actions? Even if what we think and say is okay with us, does it offend those around us and cause them to turn from Christ? Are we willing to die to self in order that others may turn to Christ, because his love is reflected in us in our everyday lives through how we live?

No comments: