The Marks of Christ: Galatians 6:17-18

When God crucifies you to the world, what are the marks you bear as God makes a new creation in you?  How has God called you into service?  How has service to God impacted who you are?  Where are those gut-check moments where you decided to be faithful instead of worldly?

Paul closes his letter quite abruptly.  He says he carries the marks of Christ on his body.  What does he mean?

Some people think Paul developed a type of stigmata.  This is a condition where a person develops wounds – and sometimes even bleeds – from their hands and feet.  When it happens, it is usually connected to a unique devotion to Christ.  Some people consider it a miracle, others simply consider it another way God displays Himself in the world.  If Paul had stigmata, it would certainly have been noticeable to others.

It is possible that Paul is talking about wounds from beatings he received by people who violently disagreed with his teaching.  We know that Paul’s teaching evoked strong responses from the crowd – not unlike Jesus.  Paul was beaten.  He was thrown in jail.  There were people out there who genuinely didn’t like him.  Why didn’t they like him?  They didn’t like him because of what he taught about Jesus, our sinfulness, and our relationship with God.  It would be natural for Paul to think of these wounds and scars as marks of Jesus.

The lesson here is that following Jesus can have consequences.  Sometimes those consequences are significant.  Sometimes those consequences are physical.  People have been injured, starved, burned at the stake, fed to lions, and even crucified for what they believed.  Our faith is not something we choose to join the crowd or to feel good.  Our faith is something we choose as a way of life.  It is a devotion.  It is a thing for which we make sacrifices.  Our faith may lead us to a building full of people singing praise to God one day and then lead us into jail or into some other conflict on the next day.  Jesus’ faithfulness led Him to the cross.  It also led Him to a place where the Father pronounced that He was “well-pleased” with Jesus.

Where has faith led you?  What are your marks of Christ you bear?  I don’t ask this question in the spirit of competition, because I don’t believe it is healthy to consider one set of marks better or more impressive than another set of marks.  Rather, I ask the question for self-examination.  I ask the question to promote the sharing of personal stories.  I ask the question so I can join you in celebrating the faithfulness God has created within you.

We all bear the marks of Christ in one way or another.  We all have been asked by God to make sacrifices.  When God crucifies you to the world, what are the marks you bear as God makes a new creation in you?