God Paraphernalia

Stonehenge, have you ever seen it and wondered why it is there?  Why are these stones left here in this place?  What were people doing and why were they doing it?  
Places like Stonehenge leave us questioning why?  
Any time anything happened where there was a great deliverance for God's people they too arranged stones as a remembrance, so that when their children saw the stones they would ask, "Why?" But, so often we are a people who want to forget.  We do not want to remember "when".  We think that in forgetting, we are freed. I must disagree.  It is in the remembrance that we find freedom and where we can see how wonderful God really is. 

"And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple," 1 Peter 2:5.

When you venture out into the wilderness and see a small circle of rocks, you do not ask the question "why?" You already know that you are seeing a fire pit assembled by people before you.  When  we see people wearing "Jesus" t-shirts, have a fish bumper sticker, or a number of other "God paraphernalia" we do not ask "why?" We assume they believe in God/go to church somewhere.  But what are we called to do?  Are we called to wear symbols or have it written on our shirts that we love Jesus, or are we to live as Christ, the cornerstone?  Maybe we choose the easy symbols so that we do not have to get personal.  We choose the symbols so that we can have an identity without having to build relationships, so that we can proclaim with an advertisement rather than our lives.  We may do this to set ourselves apart. Then we do not have to get personal and share with others our life, or get into theirs.

In 2 Peter 1, there are eight traits that are brought up; faith, virtue, knowledge, discipline, endurance, godliness, affection, and love. I think that we need these traits so that we do not become overwhelmed and cynical giving up on others and ourselves.  Not as a reference on judging, but as a guide to love and building of relationships. A guide so that we can remember "when" within our own lives.  

Short and simple: Are we wearing "God paraphernalia", or are we living stones?  Are we being asked, or do people just assume? Are we setting ourselves apart so that we are really just trying to connect with the "churched", or are we building relationships in the middle of life and in that building of life are we being asked "why?" How are we walking out this journey of life?

Some may assume that I enjoy talking about my past, but really what I enjoy is talking about my past so that I can share with them where I am now and let them see my Christ.  It is my stone that shows others God.  It is my stone that helps me remember "when" so that I can love others in their now.  It does not matter if you have come from the desert, or have lived a pure and morally upright life all along. What matters is that people are seeing God in us and are asking "why?"  Am I different because Christ is my Cornerstone and I resemble Him? Am I loving others, or driving them away while trying to set myself apart before relationships can be formed?

It is not bad to have the "God paraphernalia", but why do we have it?  Why is the question of the day....