Hi, all. Just a thought to help start your weekend.

One of our brief stops on last summer’s road trip was the downtown historical area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After leaving our car in a strangely odd parking facility, we walked a couple of blocks up to Independence Square and across to the museum where the famed Liberty Bell is housed. It was just after closing time, and therefore we couldn’t go inside, but we quickly discovered that the Liberty Bell sits in a glassed corner of the building. This allowed us to get a view and take a few pictures.

As you look at this photo and inspect the bell, you will realize that you don’t see the crack — the one thing that makes the Liberty Bell famous. You see, the bell has been positioned so that one must be inside the museum to see the crack. From the building’s outside, you can only see the other side of the bell. We got to see the Liberty Bell, but we didn’t get to see the cracked part.

The world looks at the Christian, and they watch us and “inspect” us much more than we would dare to imagine. They see the outside, the part that we present to the rest of the world. They see who we are, but do they really see what makes us different?

My Mom used to remind us kids when we went out to “Remember who you are and whose you are.” And I’ve never forgotten that sage advice! Those really are two different things while also being the very same thing. I am Brad, a preacher’s kid, a preacher myself, a husband and father. That tells you who I am. But I’m also a Bible-believing, Christ-following servant of the King. And that tells you to Whom I belong. Does everyone see that side of me? I pray so!

We saw one side only of the Liberty Bell. Maybe one day we can see what made it so famous. I’ll have to look twice. May the world around us only have to look once to see who we are and Whose we are!

Just a thought. ’Til later.

 

Rev. Brad Campbell can be reached at mastah.pastah@yahoo.com.