Identification
Originally scheduled for October 17
It is a familiar sight in the fall. Hordes of fans, each
dressed in the school colors, stream into the stadium. The more extreme fans
where the school colors on their faces, like war paint. Television cameras seek
out the most extreme paint jobs for display of what it's like to go a football
game on afternoon in the fall.
One thing the sure: is the true fan who wears the colors.
Football being what it is, sometimes those colors look a little strange on
various people. But fans wear them because they know this identifies them as
being a fan of their particular team. Color matters. In this simple way the fan
identifies with his team.
A similar phenomenon happens in Christianity. It is not
simply a matter of proclaiming that you were Christian, rather it is you
proclaiming that you understand what Christ did for you. That's communion. It
is a way of saying not only that you are a Christian, but you reflect on and
appreciate the suffering of Christ at the Cross. Indeed, in taking communion
you proclaim your willingness to suffer with Christ. Modern American Christians
don't think very much about suffering for their faith. It seems almost
incomprehensible to them that any form of pain or even embarrassment could
possibly come their way just for being a Christian. But each time you take
communion, you proclaim your willingness to suffer along with your Lord. You
are showing your colors, as it were.
Real fans will tell you: the colors don't make the fan. Just
because you have the purple sweater doesn't mean you're a real fan. Real fans
have entire rooms in their houses decorated in their team colors. (This can be
a decorator's nightmare.) Real Christians tell you the same thing about those
who take communion. If you genuinely believe, if you are genuinely willing to
suffer for Christ, if you are genuinely walking the talk, then you are a
genuine Christian. If you are genuine Christian, communion is deeply
meaningful. If you're a fraud, it is an empty ritual. So perhaps you can
measure your faith by what communion means to you: is it your identification
with your Lord Jesus Christ, or is it something to be gotten out of the way
each week? It's hard to tell from the outside, but you know. So does Jesus.
