Most people like to think they are special, unique in their own way. Many, to show their uniqueness, opt to get tattoos, something that tells a story about who they are. I remember advising a teen, who wanted to get a tattoo, because “everyone was doing it”. They said they wanted to be different. I suggested if they really wanted to be different, then DON’T get a tattoo, since everyone was doing it. No dice.
The real subject I wanted to explore today is how people try to show who they are with jewelry, specifically the cross. We have all seen beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, made of gold, silver, diamonds, and even wood. And as Pastor Smith and others have said, Christianity is the only organized religion whose symbol depicts a device used for capital punishment. We would do well to remember that our beautiful jewelry represents a real cross that was not so beautiful:
“This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.” [Acts 2:23]
“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” [Colossians 1:19-20]
May I be so bold as to propose, at least once a week, that when we wear a cross, or see it high on a church steeple (or better yet, inside a church), that we pause for a moment to thank Jesus for making the ugliness of that 2000-year-old cross such a beautiful symbol for His people to remember Him by.
And remember, no cross, no salvation.
Blessings,
–Keith