Are You Gold or Bronze

Recently I read a Bible passage and in it God highlighted something to me which stirred me and led me to write this Blog.

The Lord had been speaking to me about whether we are ‘Gold’ Christians or ‘Bronze’ Christians. So, I did a tiny bit of research, and discovered that Gold is a pure metal and is hard to mine and expensive to refine. Did you know that the visors on Astronaut’s space helmets are coated with a layer of Gold – thin enough for the astronaut to see through, but thick enough to reflect sunlight?

Gold and silver do not require another metal in an alloy to prevent rust/oxidization. Gold is a very soft and malleable metal. It is also very unreactive, so it resists corrosion and stays shiny. Gold is dense and so feels heavy when you hold it.

Bronze on the other hand is an alloy (a mixture of two elements where at least one element is a metal) of tin (usually 12%) and copper (usually 88%). Bronze was the first alloy to be made by humans, around 6000 years ago. (Remember the Bronze Serpent – Numbers 21:6-9).

When you shine Bronze, you can bring it up to look like Gold, but eventually you will wear it away. Polishing etc can produce a bright reflective surface that appears ‘golden’ at a glance. Gold plating is sometimes put over bronze objects.

Jewellery – because of the high copper content of bronze, jewellery will tarnish and develop the green patina (green ring). This occurs because copper reacts to moisture and air from the body and the environment which causes oxidation.

Bronze can be mistaken for gold under many realistic conditions. The two metals share some visual similarities, but do differ in colour, lustre, weight (being lighter than Gold), corrosion and physical properties. You can tell a bronze object when you put it against a gold object. 

This got me thinking about our own lives as Christians. Are we, and is the Church, a Gold or Bronze people?

When we first accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we got the whole download from Heaven – we were refined into the finest Gold. But I wonder how many of us can take a good, hard, honest look at ourselves and see where we have become ‘Bronze’ Christians – where we’ve been corrupted by the world and are happy to stay that way. Where we want to live with an ‘alloy’ of the Kingdom and the world. Where we have substituted the Gold in us and been quite happy with being Bronze. 

We remember in the Old Testament that the finest Gold made so many of the items in Soloman’s temple. But after Israel was invaded and the Egyptians took all the gold items, King Rehoboam replaced the Gold with Bronze. He substituted the best for a second-best.

I see the Gold representing the purest and finest of Heaven – and that’s what we actually have. But I see the Bronze representing an alloy of Heaven and the world. And the thing with Bronze is that it is difficult to separate, and you will never get it back to the original forms of Tin and Copper.

I think many of us are still so attracted to the things of the world that we have mixed the world and the Kingdom and are parading it as the finest that Heaven has to offer us. We shine it up, and hope no one will see the difference. But we have to remember that no matter how much we try and shine up Bronze, it will never be Gold. No matter how much we try and convince ourselves that our ‘bronze life’ is ok, it will never be the true representation of the Kingdom of Heaven that God wants us to display.

Have we kept the appearance (Bronze) that we are amazing Christians following God and doing His will, when actually we’re not because we still live sinful lives deliberately? Have we tried to keep hold of the things of the world we like and twisted the truth of Scripture to justify our decision and lifestyle? If we are doing that we are saying, in effect, that the Kingdom is NOT ENOUGH, and that we have to ADD TO IT.

But eventually the truth will out and we will be exposed. Because just as Bronze Jewellery being passed off as Gold Jewellery tarnishes and develops the green patina (and I’ve had many jewellery items that have done that to me, and it’s caused problems on my skin), so our pretending to be pure Gold when we’re not will eventually be exposed.

Something to ponder – is your life pure and can others see the purity of that life in you? Do you have the kind of relationship with God where you allow Him to change you more into His image? Do you have a lifestyle that cannot be corroded by the world? And a character that makes you unique and others will see Jesus in you? Are you holy and set apart to do the will of the Father? Has your heart been purified and cleansed from sin so that other will know that they have been in the presence of Jesus when they come into your company? Are you a Gold Christian?

The way I see it is that if we want to become ‘Gold’ Christians, then we need to destroy the ‘Bronze’ in us and start afresh, by confessing our allegiance with the world, by repenting of wanting the ‘best of both worlds’, and by receiving Jesus’ forgiveness and allowing Holy Spirit to make us into new Creations, ‘Gold’ people. It’s our choice!

As we approach the Christmas season, we think of the Christmas Story that is traditionally told at this time of the year. The Wise Men brought Jesus gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. What do we bring to Jesus – a life of Gold, or a life of Bronze? Surely God is worthy of our lives of Gold being presented to Him and shown to the world.

May this Christmas be a blessing to one and all.

Be blessed

Jean

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