What's All This Then?

You don't have to drive around long to find the old standby sticker for Christians, the fish sticker. Sometimes it has the Greek letters in it. Sometimes it says, "Jesus." Sometimes it's empty. What was the point of this symbol?

In the early days of Christianity, when it was entirely possible you'd be arrested for admitting you were a Christian, believers used it as a secret sign of recognition. They would draw a fish in the dirt. If the other person recognized it, they could fellowship. If not, nothing more need be said, and the Christian could avoid detection. So, in modern times, it has served as a sign between Christians. It isn't particularly good at sharing the Gospel. It isn't intended as something for unbelievers. You have to be "in" to get it.

Of course, this doesn't last long. Someone says, "Hey, what does that fish sticker mean?" and the owner tells them and the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. But it has never been intended as an "in your face" message. It has always been a private message between believers. You know, just like the masonic symbol for Masons, or the secret handshake of some clubs, or some other little tricks different groups do for fun.

So why is it that the "Darwin sticker" came on the scene? We weren't trying to proselytize with our sticker. We weren't trying to be offensive. Why did some anti-Christian decide he needed to take that particular symbol and use it against us? I asked an atheist friend once. He was gloating over the Darwin fish, and I asked, "Why?" "You Christians have been in our face for so long, it's just good to give a little back." "But ... what was 'in your face' about the fish sticker? It was always intended as a private exchange between people of similar beliefs. You don't take on the Star of David or the Masons. Why the fish?" Actually, when I asked it that way, my friend was baffled. So am I.

So now we see things like this car. The sticker on the left is the recognition between fellow believers, and the one on the right is the return volley in the war against the anti-Christians. In the process, nothing is proven, no valid argument is made, nothing is gained. We've taken a private symbol of recognition and turned it into a battleground on the bumper. I think it's a bit sad.

It's like so many other things that Christians react to in this world that is decidedly anti-Christian. We've taken on Harry Potter, the Da Vinci Code, and Last Temptation of Christ. We've boycotted this or that organization because they don't do what we believe to be right. We're up in arms about this or that TV show because it's pro-gay or too sexual or the wrong message. Me? I don't find anywhere in my Bible that says, "Make your world conform to biblical principles." I do find Jesus saying things like this: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:18-19). And this: "This is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God" (John 3:19-21).

We have an obligation in America to vote, and we need to vote our consciences. We also ought to encourage moral behavior whenever we can. But doing it as a battle doesn't seem to be on the biblical agenda. Instead, we are to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). We ought to be ready to make a defense for what we believe (By "ought" I mean "moral obligation".), but it must be "with gentleness and reverence" (1 Peter 3:15). Perhaps ... just perhaps, trading barbs with anti-Christians isn't the best way to put out the Gospel.