OK, so I’ve been ruminating over this one for a while, and I’m not sure that I’ve got much further with it, but I wanted to get some of this into words. The thought was triggered initially by the story of a few teenagers who had caused a big kerfuffle because while on a school camp they’d urinated on a bible and burned it or something like that. So our young adults group had a discussion around what sort of reaction we should have, and mostly came to a consensus that our reaction needs to be one of love towards these boys, particularly given that much had been made of the muslim background of the boys.
But the thought stuck with me: the only reason to be angry or offended by the actions is if we allow ourselves to buy into the symbolism of the act. It’s not that there is some big problem with burning pieces of paper, or even that disposing of a bible is a big issue – I’ve thrown out bibles before and that doesn’t generally receive national press attention, nor does it offend anybody. So the power in this action is only in the symbolism of what a Bible means to the Christian faith, and it is holding dear to that symbolic link that can, in this case, cause us to act in a less than loving way towards these teenagers.
So my initial reaction is that we ought therefore to throw away our attachment to symbolism, and instead to concentrate solely on the concepts and the heart behind the message of Christ in this world. There’s a lot of appeal to the prospect of being completely apathetic to the symbolism within the Christian faith, and instead concentrate completely on the task at hand. It even feels much more like a “missional” response. But the only problem is that I’m not sure that it’s a biblical one.
Because there are elements of the faith that are unequivocally symbolic and I’m not in any way sure that it is possible to simply dismiss those elements without dismantling and completely altering my own theology. Baptism, a rite which I hold very dear to my heart, only has any relevance or power in its symbolism. Likewise communion, (unless you’ve got a really big communion cup) another element that I’m certainly not willing to remove from my expression of faith in Jesus.
Thus, we are left with the question. How should we approach symbolism in our outworking of faith? Is there a time to get offended at symbolic acts? As you can tell – my answers to these questions are non-existent, so I’m verging on desperate to hear some diverse opinions. What does symbolism mean to your faith?