Is Putting a Fish Decal on My Car Necessary?

No. Probably the best way to show your faith is by how you live and treat others.

Simonssen said:

Hello brothers and sisters,

I recently bought one of those fish emblems for cars (Ichthys) that represent faith in Christ or more specifically that the person driving is a believer.

However, I started wondering whether or not it will have a negative impact on the appearance of my car, thus I began questioning whether to put it or not.

Do you think that it's necessary to let others (people who are aware of what the symbol means obviously) know that I'm a believer or is this just a fleshly thing that's redundant?

I'm not ashamed of my faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ so that's not an issue.

Cheers,

-- Simon

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It isn’t necessary. If you want to have it on your car, that’s fine as well. It is purely a preference.

lol

Mark 6-8 talks about that. Jesus feeding the 5000 with food. He later asks the disciples to feed his sheep and they are looking for a similar food miracle, but Christ tells them to feed his sheep (spiritually). The disciples didn't get the spiritual message yet but Christ had all the patience, longsuffering and tollerance needed to make sure they would grow into mature fishers of men.

God Bless

It's not necessary, it's a matter of personal choice.

I choose not to put anything identifiably Christian on my car because sometimes I have bad moments when driving. When people have bad driving moments, that can infuriate other drivers, and I don't want to that frustration to reflect on God or the church.

Symbols these days can be meaningless. Decades ago there were hard rock musicians that wore crosses that weren't Christians many did it to demean Christianity. I've met people that are almost amoral that have a fish symbol on their vehicles they do that to get business from Christians a lot of people pretend to be one to either fit in or hide their sinful nature (camoflage).
I say forget the symbol it used to mean a lot back 30+ years ago now too many people call themselves Christian and go out and do things that are opposed to it. My roommate when he got saved decided he needed to wear a crucifix and I told him I didn't think it was necessary and also didn't think it was necessary to have Jesus on the cross either but I told him if it made him feel better go for it. He doesn't wear one now. I wore a cross at one time that my mom gave me it was sterling silver and I celtic cross. Mom took it away thinking it was wicked or something that the circle around the center broke the power of the cross. I got it back after she died but never wore it mainly because I don't really wear jewelry and silver tarnishes fast and makes your skin black.
IMO a lot of time symbols can become a crutch for less mature believers but I say if it helps them till they get beyond the need for them then I don't have a big problem with them.

Sketcher said:

It's not necessary, it's a matter of personal choice.

I choose not to put anything identifiably Christian on my car because sometimes I have bad moments when driving. When people have bad driving moments, that can infuriate other drivers, and I don't want to that frustration to reflect on God or the church.

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Another note is sometimes you have people with serious issues and a fish symbol or cross can be a bullseye to them on a vehicle it is rare but at times people want to have an excuse to attack Christians or vandalized their vehicles.

There is a strand of strict Christianity that objects to such abbreviations as Xmas (Christmas) and Xian (Christian) as profane or in some cases even Satanic. Nothing could be further from the truth. The X is the Greek letter "Chi" the first letter of Χριστός which translates into English as Christ. The use of X or "Chi" as a symbol for Christ goes back to the very early days of Christianity when the phrase "Iesous Xristos Theou Yios Sotare" was used as a sort of creed "Jesus Christ Son of God Savior". In capitol letters this abbreviates as ΙΧΘΥΣ in Greek or IXOYC in English. This acronym also spells the word "fish" in Greek, hence the use of the fish symbol as a secret recognition sign among Christians. There is absolutely no disrespect in using "Xmas" since the X as a symbol of the Christ has a long and honourable history.

Sophrosyne said:

Another note is sometimes you have people with serious issues and a fish symbol or cross can be a bullseye to them on a vehicle it is rare but at times people want to have an excuse to attack Christians or vandalized their vehicles.

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I would have no problems with publicly shaming the deed and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law in that case.

Simonssen said:

Hello brothers and sisters,

I recently bought one of those fish emblems for cars (Ichthys) that represent faith in Christ or more specifically that the person driving is a believer.

However, I started wondering whether or not it will have a negative impact on the appearance of my car, thus I began questioning whether to put it or not.

Do you think that it's necessary to let others (people who are aware of what the symbol means obviously) know that I'm a believer or is this just a fleshly thing that's redundant?

I'm not ashamed of my faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ so that's not an issue.

Cheers,

-- Simon

Click to expand...

I've heard of anti-theist types vandalizing cars with Christian symbols on them. It's not super common afaik. But it definitely happens sometimes.

I prefer driving forgettable, nondescript vehicles precisely because they don't stand out anywhere. No bumper stickers or decals or any of that stuff. So, the worst thing I've ever had to deal with was a psycho ex-girlfriend doing a number on my car years ago. But otherwise, my car has never been damaged.

You do you. But personally, I don't go in for decals and stuff on my car.

Simonssen said:

Hello brothers and sisters,

I recently bought one of those fish emblems for cars (Ichthys) that represent faith in Christ or more specifically that the person driving is a believer.

However, I started wondering whether or not it will have a negative impact on the appearance of my car, thus I began questioning whether to put it or not.

Do you think that it's necessary to let others (people who are aware of what the symbol means obviously) know that I'm a believer or is this just a fleshly thing that's redundant?

I'm not ashamed of my faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ so that's not an issue.

Cheers,

-- Simon

Click to expand...

I have a cross symbol on my car, and I am happy it is there. It reminds people of the gospel, and its message. To me that is important.

Sketcher said:

I would have no problems with publicly shaming the deed and prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law in that case.

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I don't either but if it isn't strangers and there is relatives and people you know that will attack you or your vehicle I would consider not putting a stumbling block in front of them.

thecolorsblend said:

I've heard of anti-theist types vandalizing cars with Christian symbols on them. It's not super common afaik. But it definitely happens sometimes.

I prefer driving forgettable, nondescript vehicles precisely because they don't stand out anywhere. No bumper stickers or decals or any of that stuff. So, the worst thing I've ever had to deal with was a psycho ex-girlfriend doing a number on my car years ago. But otherwise, my car has never been damaged.

You do you. But personally, I don't go in for decals and stuff on my car.

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I don't put stickers on vehicles either as unless they are on chrome bumpers or windows that don't have film on them you could have issues when you do decide to remove them.

Being both a Christian and a scientist I have been tempted to use this decal:



But I decided against it.

It may be nice but a necessity. I went through a stage when much younger, wearing a cross, fish badge on my lapel , even had a Christian diary in my pocket.

What really matters is what you carry on the inside - your faith, attempts to lead a good a Christian life as possible. Knowing that you have a relationship with God is more important than wearing emblems. Most people will know what sort of person you are by your actions rather than signs on your car or body

It's like wearing a cross necklace or not, but it's not a must. The most important part is what it's inside, sometimes people would wear crosses or putting on a fish decal is just trying to take advantage of the positive image of Christians for their own gain.

Walk by faith, not by sight. I don't understand why so many Christians feel the need to deck themselves out in crosses or fishies. It makes zero sense to me.

When I first became a Christian it was such a joyous experience I wanted to wear symbols of my conversion, for self assurance and to tell other Christian strangers that I was one of them. Eventually I discarded them, preferring to focus on practising good attitudes and behaviour as symbols of my conversion.

I dropped the thought of putting a fish on my car in case it brought recriminations and insults on the Lord by my bad driving habits.