From Christ to christ

The European Union, as a part of an orthography (writing) reform, has changed Jesus Christ to Jesus christ, with a lower case "c." This is perhaps not too surprising as the word Christ is Greek for "anointed one" and is a title declaring Jesus to be The Anointed One, or to use the Hebrew for that expression, "The Messiah." To refer to Jesus of Nazareth as Jesus Christ was originally a brief statement of faith.

An interesting twist in this reform, according to a CanadaFreePress.com article is that the title of the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy still gets all caps in his title. The article goes on to say, "The changes will be mandatory in August of 2006. There is no description of the fines offenders will face if they keep right on spelling 'Christ' with a capital 'C.'"

All of this will only effect official EU writings. On the one hand, such things are of no importance. Removing faith from the public sphere does not effect the faith in my heart. On the other, it feels like a slide away from the Christian west which was the world into which I was born. When children are not brought up in the Christian faith simply by being English or American, then the burden shifts to each family to do a better job of teaching their children of the faith that is in them.

The good news is that Christianity itself came into being in the Roman culture which was very counter to the claims of Jesus Christ, and our faith thrived in that pagan culture. Christianity answers the questions of life that everyone confronts. We can speak to suffering, loneliness and despair. But as our faith gets pushed out of the public sphere, the burden falls more heavily on Christians to live out their faith. We don't need to beat others up with the Gospel, but it is imperative that we live in such a way that God may use us as a light to the world.

You are the light of the world –
like a city on a mountain,
glowing in the night for all to see.
Don't hide your light under a basket!
Instead, put it on a stand
and let it shine for all.
—Jesus Christ
Matthew 5:14-15 (New Living Translation)