The Self Exam
My heart fell when I saw it.
My daughter and I were scrolling through someone’s pictures of the protests in Washington, D.C. on January 6th. Though storming the Capital was wrong, I was even more grieved by a very large picture of Christ in this huge crowd because He was wearing a MAGA hat.
Christ needs no accessories. Nothing can be added to Him as He has need for nothing.
The people around it seemed to love the picture and be very proud of it. Could they be Christians?
Syncretism is defined like this (dictionary.com): the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
Jesus and the President are not on the same level. Regardless of who the President of the United States is, he is not God (even though many seem to make the sitting president a god). Putting a MAGA hat on the Christ detracts from Him, it does not enhance Him.
Don’t get me wrong. I am encouraged that President Trump seems to sincerely invoke the Name of the Lord in His prayers. Sadly though, there is little evidence in the politics of our nation that suggest that God has been taken seriously in decisions that have been made or in words spoken other times.
The major concern with regard to this picture is about the “Christians” who created it. Do we, as Christians, examine our thoughts and actions before putting them before the world? What we think, what we say, and what we do should be compared to the scriptures (1 John 4:1) before it goes public.
Does a picture of Christ with a MAGA hat express our trust in Him or in the people behind the hat? What message is being communicated?
In a recent study of communion a commentator pointed out that the Church (rightly) has an understanding that we are to examine ourselves before we take communion (1 Corinthians 11:27-28) so that we take it in a worthy manner. He went on to point out that too many of us are only examining ourselves at communion and not on a regular (daily or hourly) basis. It should be a short list to go through before communion if we are constantly confessing our sin and seeking the Lord’s forgiveness.
By failing to examine ourselves faithfully, we fail to see our depraved nature and then we fail to seek God’s guidance about what seem like little things; attending a protest or creating a sign.
This sign was a confirmation that the faith of many is not fully in the True God of the Bible. We are making earthly idols of men. Self-examination is a great start for all Christians. What or who are our idols? For some of us it is not a man but peace or comfort so we fail to speak the truth. For others it is our family so we never leave the roost but concentrate all our efforts where we are the most comfortable.
Whatever “accessories” we have added to the Christ of the Bible, we need to remove them and make our faith a bold and courageous one for the One True God who needs no embellishment. He is sufficient as He is (2 Corinthians 12:9).