THE CREDIBILITY OF SYMBOLS
Christian Kitsch, Holy Hardware, or Jesus Junk?
The voice of the other end of the phone was pleasant, almost sweet. Clearly her accent gave her away. I could tell immediately she was from Alabama.
“Hi there. You’all doing okay today?” She waited for my reply
“Just fine,” I replied. “And how are you?”
“My name is Dee Dee,” she told me without my asking. “I’m from the Miraculous Gospel Tee Shirt ministry. We’re located in Alabama. Are you the pastor?”
I assured her that I was but suspected that she would have kept on talking even if I wasn’t the pastor.
“I just know your youth group is itching to witness for Jesus,” she informed me. “And because they want to witness for Jesus, we think we have just the right thing for them. It s a tee shirt made of one hundred percent good old Southern cotton and comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Most important,” she continued, “it has printed in bold the words WE WORK FOR JESUS right on the front. You can have the name of your church emblazoned on the back. Doesn’t that sound like something your youth group members would be proud to wear?” She seemed pleased with herself. “They only cost$12.94 each or in lots of ten they are only $10.00 each or $100.00 per box. How many do you think you would like us to send you?”
“None,” I said. Tried to end the conversation quickly, but she would have none of it as she just kept lauding the value of tee shirts for witnessing for Jesus.
“Why wouldn’t you?” she insisted. “Don’t you want your kids to show their love of Jesus?”
“Thanks, but we are not interested,” I repeated and hung up the phone.
The Importance of Being a Symbol.
Symbols are everywhere. Symbols are powerful. They have the power to organize a crowd of miscellaneous people into a smoothly operating community bent on a single purpose. Symbols can persuade, they can convey, and they can motivate. Some have proclaimed that symbols are the natural speech of the soul, a language older and more universal than words. Symbols may appear as only matter, but they matter a great deal for they can be transcendental. They capture the essence and meaning of love. Symbols convey the beauty, the truth, and the mystery of God.
“In truth, symbols house the treasures of our life; our hopes,
our dreams, our ideals. They enshrine our memory, the
enduring, priceless pearls of all we own. They also embrace
the mausoleum of all we have been. Just symbols, a wedding
ring, and old boot, a uniform, an album, a triangular flag.
They warm us, they inspire us, they ring every bell of our being.”
… Patrick H. Brady
For generations, symbols have been of immense importance to the Christian faith and faithful – the cross, the fish, the dove, the star. For the uninitiated, the bread and wine of the Eucharist may be only elements. In reality, for the Christian they are the lifeblood and body of the very Jesus. Symbols such as these contain a certain power and dignity that transforms. The sanctified symbol takes on the very nature of that to which it bears witness. Christ is present in the bread and wine of the communion, the Holy Spirit is present in the baptism, and the resurrection becomes a reality in the Easter celebration.
The early Christian father, Ephrem was keenly aware of the potency of symbolism for the Christian when he wrote:
“In everyplace you look, His symbol is there
And when you read, you find His types.
For by Him were created all creatures,
And He engraved His symbols upon His possessions,
When He created the world.”
Not all symbols that claim authority or credibility are authentic. Sociologists point out that we need to be aware of symbols that may not bear the true nature of that which they claim to represent. In any culture, including our contemporary society, religious symbolism can easily fall prey to distortion. It has its own way of becoming hollow.
Christian Kitsch, Holy Hardware, and Jesus Junk
“A Teacher told the students in her class to bring in a symbol of their religion for show and tell. And so they did. The first student said, ‘I’m a Catholic and this is a crucifix.’
The second student said, ‘I’m Jewish and this is a Star of David.’
The third student said, ‘I’m Lutheran and this is a casserole.”
Christian symbolism is the use of signs and emblems to teach and recall religious truths. Symbolism often succeeds in communicating where words fail. When taken together, the can sometimes make spiritual truth exceptionally clear. Symbols are always more than mere substitutes for the “real” thing. They can serve as metaphors; they open up the meaning of the vent toward which they point. Symbols illustrate that for which they stand.
It becomes increasingly difficult to determine the motivation for the use of Christian symbols. The display of crosses, fish, doves, scripture verses, and caricatures of Jesus are affixed to just about everything that can sell. The question can be legitimately raised; does the use of Christian symbolism become corrupted when it is used for a purpose other than representing the truth revealed through the ministry of Jesus? Is wearing a tee shirt bearing the words, “We Work for Jesus” sufficient as a demonstration of commitment to Jesus or is it a substitute for authentic ministry?
Trinkets or Truth?
Walk into any store that bears a sign indicating it is a “Christian Bookstore” and you will surely be confronted with a plethora of stuff aimed at enticing the contemporary Christian. Within a cash register’s tape length from the front door, the merchandizing begins. Alongside the critical commentaries, the bible translations, and the musical CD’s, sits chewing gum wrapped in scripture paper, bible text adorning ornamental vases and figurines, tiny red and white life savers announcing “Jesus saves”, and assorted bric-a-brac that asks the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” Devices and objects of no apparent religious or moral nature are given a religious significance by imprinting them with scriptural references of Christian symbols.
Some have questioned this conversion of the amoral to the spiritual. What is communicated? What message is conveyed by the wearer of shoelaces imprinted with slogans of “Jesus makes me happy” on the left foot and “Jesus loves me” on the right foot. Marjorie Cooper, marketing professor at Baylor University in Texas has stated, “I think that, to some extent, we’re trying to peddle a popularized God in sound-bit mentality so that he’s palatable for the masses. But God has never presented Himself that way. This is our idea.”
Reading from the Scriptures: Matthew 15:10-20
A simple problem confronts Jesus. The Pharisee’s, looking to discredit Jesus’ authority by implicating his disciples, take issue with the disciples disregard for religious law. “Why don’t your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do?” Jesus’ rendition of “not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of the mouth” helps to define for us the nature of Christian formation. The Pharisees seem to be hung up on the outward trappings of religion; that surface signs determine inward spirituality. Jesus affirms that faith does not consist in outward appearances and religious paraphernalia.
· When Jesus proclaims that eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God(vs.19 adapted), if it is not hand wishing then what is it he is protesting against?
· Jesus talks about the “words that come out of your mouth (vs. 18 adapted). If words are symbols, what do they symbolize that Jesus makes reference to?
· Do you see an underlying theme behind the metaphor that Jesus uses to describe what is fit and not fit for worship of God?
· Do you see any connection between “food” as Jesus talks about it in this text and the contemporary use of Christian symbols described above?
For Your Thought and Consideration
The sale of Christian paraphernalia has been big business from the time Christianity became the dominant Western religion. Many have said that such paraphernalia (the use of Christian symbolism for merchandizing) frequently subverts scripture by trivializing God’s name.
· Do you think Christian paraphernalia intentionally “dumbs down” the significance of Christian symbolism in order to present an easily digestible gospel?
· It has been stated that we have “found a new and improved flavor of materialism; a capitalist Christianity that seems to have little to say regarding Jesus’ commitment to simplicity and empathy for the poor” (Darcy M. O’Brien and Christopher Knight). Is there such a thing as “capitalists Christianity?” What is it and how does it operated?
· Is Christmas part of the “capitalistic Christianity?”
· What Christian symbols are most important to you? Why are they important?
· Pick a Christian symbol – the cross, the bible or some other and describe the truth it conveys to your spiritual growth and understanding.