Thank you for the information you present on your site.<\/p>\n
My question is: Is it sinful or unwise to wear a necklace with a small cross (nothing flashy)? I Peter 3:3-4 and Matthew 23:5 are two verses that may shed some light on it, but I am still not clear.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/jewelry-300x136.jpg\")
Our preachers do not carry special titles to distinguish themselves (Matthew 23:6-12), nor do they wear special clothing to set them apart (Matthew 23:5). For the same reason, the members do not wear jewelry or items to say “See, here is a Christian!” We want to be noticed for who we are, not by what we claim to be (John 5:44; I Peter 3:3-7).<\/p>\n
People have a tendency to place significance on man-made symbols. A good example of this was the bronze serpent made by Moses to allow a cure from snake bites (Numbers 21:9). Moses made it at the direction of God and it served its purpose. But centuries later people made an idol out of that same bronze serpent (II Kings 18:4). We see this same tendency today. People treat crosses and other religious symbols as good luck pieces. People will say that a cross necklace is there as an open proclamation that they are a Christian, but often these same people will grab their crucifix as they pray as if it had some power. Knowing what people tend to do, most Christians choose to avoid the issue.<\/p>\n
However, I can’t make a judgment on why a person chooses to wear a cross. Since I don’t know the reason behind the choice, I don’t condemn someone if they wear one. It is only when someone indicates that they think it has some religious significance that I gently discuss the matter with them.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Thank you for the information you present on your site. My question is: Is it sinful or unwise to wear a necklace with a small cross (nothing flashy)? I Peter 3:3-4 and Matthew 23:5 are two verses that may shed some light on it, but I am still not clear. Thank you. Answer: Our…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[831,953],"class_list":["post-41679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-cross","tag-religious-icons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7300,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-use-of-crosses-in-a-building\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":0},"title":"What do you think about the use of crosses in a building?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I visited at a church of Christ nearby and was thinking about attending there on a permanent basis but I noticed they had a cross painted on a sign in front of the building and a clock in the shape of a cross with a picture of Jesus in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85555,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-symbol-be-used-to-identify-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":1},"title":"Can a symbol be used to identify Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I thoroughly appreciate your congregation's work on the many articles and topics. I use them myself to continue learning and answer some of my questions about certain topics. I do have a question regarding Christian symbolism. I understand that we should not make graven images or symbols per the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/256px-Red_Chi_Rho_sign-png.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52436,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-all-right-to-wear-religious-clothing-so-long-as-we-are-not-showing-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":2},"title":"Is it all right to wear religious clothing, so long as we are not showing off?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Luke 20:46 and Matthew 23:5 warns us about people wearing religious clothes just to show off. \u00a0Yet, some groups claim a need to wear special clothing because they can't be like the rest of the world.\u00a0 Are they okay as long as they don't do it to show off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10883,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-pants-earrings-makeup-or-reggaeton-music-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":3},"title":"Are pants, earrings, makeup, or Reggaeton music bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Is it a sin for women to wear pants outside of the church but skirts and dresses inside the church? Are earrings and using makeup a sin? Finally, is Christian Reggaeton bad? I know it's a lot of questions, but I was just wondering. Thanks! Answer: In regards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23212,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-require-christians-to-wear-white-to-not-wear-jewelry-and-to-not-have-facial-hair\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":4},"title":"Does God require Christians to wear white, to not wear jewelry, and to not have facial hair?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been going through your articles and was inspired by your teachings; the firm stands that you have taken on the Lord and to walk only in the Bible's teaching and its ways and not to sway with customs and traditions. I believe, the Lord has kept this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15894,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-pierced-earrings-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":41679,"position":5},"title":"Are pierced earrings sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: During a home Bible study regarding our bodies are a temple, a side comment was made about body piercings, which prompted me (a female) to say: \u201cI have pierced ears and wear pierced earrings. Is that wrong?\u201d The host of the Bible study and his wife said, yes, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}