Out of My Heart, Onto My Car
One Fish, Two Fish, Three Fish, FOUR?!?
Jesus Fish showed up on cars a long time ago. I remember being in junior high and perusing that section of the Bible Bookstore, counting the days until I would have a car and could display cool bumper stickers and the like.
I've had my own car for five and a half years now, and I've never owned a Jesus Fish. At first glance, you may attribute this to the fact that my car is pink and I get enough strange glances for that, let alone questions about my religious affiliation. If only I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me if I'm a Mary Kay rep...but that's another story.
I don't have anything against Jesus Fish. That's something I respect as being between you, God and your car.
But I can't help pointing out how absurd the whole thing has gotten. Have you seen the mini vans with six fish, two being large and four being small? Be still my beating heart! This family has not one Christian, but SIX - mommy, daddy, and their four beautiful children!
But who is praying for little Johnny, child number five, who doesn't have a fish representing him on the family vehicle? I can almost hear it: "Now Johnny, if you pray and ask Jesus into your heart, you can have a fish on the back of the car, too."
It's almost as if Jesus Fish have replaced Believer Baptism - it's a rite of passage. At least they both have to do with water...
I'm guess what I'm saying is that we seem to be more interested in showing people who we are with objects, instead of through that which seeps from our hearts. And it's not just a symbol on cars - it's the way symbols have found their way into our churches, too. I've witnessed countless infant baptisms in the past year that are just as void of depth. Many parents sign up to sprinkle their kids because it's the thing to do. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing or what it means.
How far we've come. People used to be killed for their faith. Now it's a status symbol. Faith used to be deep. Now it's a half-inch thick with double-sided tape on the back.
It's time to get the Fish off of our cars and back into our hearts.
Jesus Fish showed up on cars a long time ago. I remember being in junior high and perusing that section of the Bible Bookstore, counting the days until I would have a car and could display cool bumper stickers and the like.
I've had my own car for five and a half years now, and I've never owned a Jesus Fish. At first glance, you may attribute this to the fact that my car is pink and I get enough strange glances for that, let alone questions about my religious affiliation. If only I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me if I'm a Mary Kay rep...but that's another story.
I don't have anything against Jesus Fish. That's something I respect as being between you, God and your car.
But I can't help pointing out how absurd the whole thing has gotten. Have you seen the mini vans with six fish, two being large and four being small? Be still my beating heart! This family has not one Christian, but SIX - mommy, daddy, and their four beautiful children!
But who is praying for little Johnny, child number five, who doesn't have a fish representing him on the family vehicle? I can almost hear it: "Now Johnny, if you pray and ask Jesus into your heart, you can have a fish on the back of the car, too."
It's almost as if Jesus Fish have replaced Believer Baptism - it's a rite of passage. At least they both have to do with water...
I'm guess what I'm saying is that we seem to be more interested in showing people who we are with objects, instead of through that which seeps from our hearts. And it's not just a symbol on cars - it's the way symbols have found their way into our churches, too. I've witnessed countless infant baptisms in the past year that are just as void of depth. Many parents sign up to sprinkle their kids because it's the thing to do. They have absolutely no idea what they're doing or what it means.
How far we've come. People used to be killed for their faith. Now it's a status symbol. Faith used to be deep. Now it's a half-inch thick with double-sided tape on the back.
It's time to get the Fish off of our cars and back into our hearts.
posted by Joy at
4:54 PM
1 Comments:
A friend of mine used to point to one of those Jesus fish cars and say, "We'll see that car one day in glory."
By
Joyella, at 9:19 PM
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