Religious affection is no passport to respect
- Freedom is not needing to prove your identity or position
by IAN GREIG writing in FAITH FRAGMENTS
There is a human desire for identity. We show which tribe we belong to by a dress code and, increasingly, by tattoos.
It might be subtleties of fashion — or it might be overt or even confrontational, like the present-day Orthodox Jews or the hijab of Muslim women.
A recognisable uniform can be useful in a hospital or rescue team setting, where identification is important. And Christian church leaders in the more formal traditions may feel the need to present themselves as ministers.
But the exaggerated priestly collar and black shirt of high church or Catholic-leaning clergy seems more like virtue signalling — or a demand for respect.
Jesus taught the folly of titles, tassels and trumpery.
”And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and He is in heaven.
“Beware of the teachers of the law…
… They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets.”
Matthew 23:9, Luke 20:46 NIV
And Paul, writing to Christians in first century Galatia, warned those of Jewish background against this religious spirit.
They were putting a false expectation on other believers — the men at least — that they should signal their belonging in the traditional Jewish way of circumcision:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free… The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.” Romans 5: 1 and 6
Those who have truly submitted to Jesus show it in changed, renewed lives. Accepting His self-sacrifice for us brings a freedom from sin and guilt we couldn’t achieve by any amount of religious devotion or other ‘good works’.
Paul says that this new freedom is its own signal. To need a particular title or dress style or other distinction is returning to the old covenant style of religion, not the faith and freedom of the new covenant in Jesus.
Religious rules and distinctives build exclusivity rather than growing the reach of a church.
Jesus did not come to set up exclusive and competing clubs, but a movement and mission where He is present with His people.
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