Matthew 16.13-16 (CEB)
Now when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Human One is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He said, “And what about you? Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
From Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Beyond the edge of the world there’s a space where emptiness and substance neatly overlap, where past and future form a continuous, endless loop. And, hovering about, there are signs no one has ever read, chords no one has ever heard.
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We need to have a discussion about the meaning of the words we use. It’s especially crucial we religious folk understand the symbolic meaning of language. A lot of the words we use in a church—including the word “church,” and especiallythe word “Christian,” have very negative meanings today.
So, let’s look at some symbols and the way their meanings changed over time. Then, we can apply those lessons to the current state of Christianity in America, and hopefully, form a response to the changed meanings of some common Christian language.
First, what is a symbol? Harper’s Bible Dictionary defines a symbol as a “term derived from a Greek noun meaning a ‘contract,’ ‘tally,’ or ‘mark’ by which something is inferred, which, in turn, is derived from a verb meaning ‘to bring together’ or ‘compare.’ … “A symbol bridges two realities, bringing them into relationship with one another, but since it connotes a reality that is not directly knowable and about which only indirect discourse or reference is possible, the symbol may not only reveal but also veil the reality it represents.”
The Bible, of course, is full of symbols and, as a work is highly symbolic itself. While the signs are relatively easy to recognize, the Bible’s symbolism is largely lost on us today, because symbols always reference a particular time and place, often drastically changing meaning over time. This is why symbols can both reveal and veil their meaning.
For example, the swastika is a very famous symbol, that most of us know as a hate symbol. However, the swastika is an ancient religious cross that was in wide use by the 2nd Century BCE, and artifacts with the swastika motif have been found on every inhabited continent, dating back as far as 10,000 BCE.
The swastika symbol is still revered in Native American spiritualities, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It has slightly different meanings within each because, context. In the context of those (and other) religions, the swastika is thought of as a charm that attracts good and protects from evil. The word itself is a combination of the Sanskrit words su, meaning well, asti, meaning to be, and ka, a suffix. The term “swastika” literally means “to be well.”
The Nazis took that ancient, sacred, religious symbol of well-being and well-meaning, and twisted it. They twisted the way it sits, from on the square at 90 degrees, to tilted and warped on the 45. They turned its meaning so that now we associate the swastika not with well-being, but with hatred and genocide.
Christians have this same love-hate relationship with the cross, of course.
Whereas the swastika’s meaning moved from symbolic good to symbolic evil, the cross did the opposite: its meaning changed from bad to good (in general, and in the Christian context). The cross was originally a symbol of torture—torture so terrible that the Romans even forbade talking about it within Rome itself. The Romans hated crucifixion and didn’t even want to talk about it! Crucifixion was, therefore, an exclusively political punishment, reserved for the most heinous rebels and insurgents.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, it took nearly 40 years for someone to consider the cross differently—Paul. Even at that, it wouldn’t become a religious symbol until the 4th Century CE, when the Roman Empire—the very entity that had killed Jesus—made their instrument of torture the symbol of their new state religion, Christianity. In so doing, the Empire reappropriated the word “Christian,” a term they invented decades before to slur Jesus’ followers.
Meaning changes over time, and symbolic meaning is dependent upon cultural context—and whoever controls the culture.
Both the standard cross and the swastika are good examples of how a symbol reveals and veils the reality to which it points. Whether a symbol reveals or veils at any given moment depends tremendously upon who is interpreting it, and when. A symbol itself is meaningless. Humans impart meaning, for ill or good, and as our examples illustrate, usually for both.
In our present era, this fluidity of meaning has become a stumbling block to understanding.
As people who claim Jesus as our master and usually call ourselves “Christians,” we need to consider that the symbolic words of Christianity, including the word “Christianity,” have become twisted.
The representation of American Christians as clueless, closed-minded louts, who lock children in cages, and steal from the poor to give to the rich, is a problem for everyone else who has honestly and sacrificially devoted their lives to Jesus and his compassionate, selfless teaching.
As Jesus’ students, we strive to respect one another as equally beloved and cared for children of God, regardless of religious creed, sexual orientation, economic position, whatever. All means all to us. God either loves all of us for who and where we are, or God does not exist. I refuse to believe that God chooses some creatures over others.
The current corrupted state of Christianity in America makes that sort of all-inclusive position all the more difficult though because today, if I tell someone I’m a Christian, they wonder where my MAGA hat is. And if I suggest our country should do something Jesus asks—like providing free healthcare (which he both pleads for and provides on more than one occasion)—I’m an anti-American socialist.
The only nation Jesus ever condones is the nation (kingdom, realm) of God.
Jesus insists we transcend national loyalties because, as his disciples, we are no longer American, Russian, Latvian, Australian, Colombian or Mexican, Gentile or Jew, Male or Female, Slave or Free. Instead, we are all citizens of the Realm of God.
We are the symbols of God’s love in the world.
Tasked With Creating A New Realm
If we are to overcome the negativity associated with Christianity in America today, our most potent weapon is to act like Jesus and promote love.
When we act like Jesus, we become the signs and symbols that point to love.
When we feed the hungry,
when we protest against injustice,
when we fight for equality or proclaim the unity and worth of all human beings,
when we march with brothers and sisters of color,
when we resist the evils of an empire,
when we work to change unjust systems,
when we combat misinformation and disinformation online,
that’s the realm—and reality-changing work—Jesus requires of his disciples.
If we want people to understand what it honestly means to be Christian, we need to redefine, again, the symbols of Christianity, by becoming the only symbols that matter: students and activists in the name of the Prince of Peace.
Amen.
Question: How do you define yourself as a follower of Christ?
