I have a pile of symbols on my wall: things I don’t wear to work. Greenstone (pounamu) given to me by Tainui when I left for Otago. A cross from First Presbyterian, celtic.

And then there is the bracelet or band from this year’s Murph challenge on a shelf somewhere. Because I don’t wear these things.

I find wearing them overtly, well, rude. One exception: the local Maori often will wear such at formal ceremonies (Prayers, or Karakia) , as an honour. I tend to avoid such.

I try not to wear that which signals virtue: from the band or ribbon for this week’s issue to the message T-shirt to the overtly religious clothing. Because I am tempted to Pharisaism most days, and, being a reformed Prig, such displays stick in the craw.

However, we are warned against those who seek virtue, particularly in our services, and particularly if the service and teaching is that which is correct.

	Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

(Matthew 23:1-12 ESV)

This is one of the reasons that I note the PCUSA has continued to implode, and applaud those who protest these things. For this is the virtue signaling of the converged: that they pray to a foreign God, not to the Almighty, considering ecumenism extends to all faiths. They forget that we are one if we are of Christ, and that the world hates us.

The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) caused a stir after a Muslim prayer was recited at its General Assembly held last week in Portland, Oregon.

During the church’s opening plenary session, Wajidi Said, co-founder of the Muslim Education Trust, led the attendees in a prayer to Allah that was arranged by the Ecumenical and Interfaith ministry staff.

“Allah bless us and bless our families and bless our Lord. Lead us on the straight path – the path of all prophets: Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. Peace be upon them all, Amen,” said Said, according to CBN News and Christian Daily.

Said said God “created us and made us into nations and tribes, from male and females that we may know each other, not that we might despise each other.”

“Incline towards peace and justice and trust in God, for the Lord is one that hears and knows everything and the servants of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful, gracious are those who walk in the earth in humility and when bigots and hateful and Islamophobes address them, they say peace. Peace be upon them and peace be upon Allah,” he added.
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Days after the Muslim prayer, a protest letter was sent to the Stated Clerk written by a Korean Presbyterian and signed by 25 Assembly commissioners, according to The Layman and the blog of Mateen Elass.

Rev. Gradye Parsons apologised to those who were offended, saying that mistakes can happen but the prayer was not intentional.

“During the interfaith prayer service on Saturday in response to the killings in Charleston and Orlando, a prayer was offered that went beyond what had been scripted. It was an offense of the head, not of the heart; it came from one seeking to be authentically gracious, as part of the healing service,” he said.

He said “some commissioners found it offensive.”

“When in relationship with people of other faiths, sometimes we can inadvertently be offensive when meaning to be sensitive and ecumenical. It was never the intention of the one offering the prayer to offend any of us. Nevertheless, we offer an apology to all those who were offended,” he added.

Just don’t.

Christ is more than a crucifix, or bracelet or T shirt. He is more than acceding to the sensitivities of others.

Don’t re-frame a serious theological point as another inter-sectional sensitivity to be danced around.

Do not be like the elite. For they do not what they signal. We are supposed to love our brother and sister in Christ, not micromanage their speech or signal our status by damning them.

Instead, judge your life by the influence of those around you. It is by the outcome of your life you should be assessed: it is by your fruits you are known.