A brand is an important part of fashion these days, with many clothing companies having distinctive brands; Stephen showed off the Barbour brand today:
This kind of branding is certainly less painful than that which used to be used to mark slaves; a branding iron was heated up on coals and then placed on a slave’s skin, so that if they strayed, they could be traced back to the owner. Animals are branded (often with dye) so that they can be clearly identified as belonging to a particular farmer. Whilst we may deplore slavery, the Bible uses this language to describe our relationship to sin and to Christ (see Rom 6:16-18), and we are urged to show the marks of Christ in our lives, even as His death by crucifixion gave Him wounds or marks which He showed to His followers after His resurrection.
We may choose to cover our branding, but God has chosen us in Him to be holy and blameless in His sight; we are called to be His holy people (1 Cor 1:2, Eph 1:4) We are sons and daughters of the living God and need to live in such a way that we are marked out as belonging to Christ. Our lives should reflect how Jesus lived, bearing the marks of love, sacrifice, service, forgiveness and trust. Are we willing to show our allegiance to God, or do we prefer to ‘cover up’ these marks, choosing to identify more with the world’s ways than with Christ’s? Col 1:22 reminds us that we are reconciled through the physical sacrifice of Jesus and now we are called to shine forth His light so that the world may know who He is. (2 Cor 4:4-8) We need to be unashamed of being slaves to righteousness and must live in ways that reflect Christ’s brand to the world.
