Serving as a proctor this week for a day of assessments on our campus, one of my duties in this capacity was to request that students “Please Sign Here” on a roster sheet in order to document their attendance. Uttering this phrase often as each student entered the classroom, I found myself in a routine of gently holding the paper to prevent slippage across the slick surface of the desk as students offered their signature to validate their identity before completing the assigned surveys. Midway through this process, a student asks if she can print her name rather than sign, and I jokingly inquired if she knew how to write in cursive. She smiled at my inane comment and proceeded to print here rather than Sign Here.

This interaction with a student prompted me to think about how often in our lives, we are obedient to Sign Here and here and here, and initial here and here without careful consideration of what we are committing to when offering a piece of our identity and credibility with the simple scratching of a pen. Not one student asked me what was required of them when I asked them to “Sign Here;” hopefully this was due to the trusted environment of the university where students know we have their best interests at heart and are accustomed to offering a signature as proof of attendance, yet the situation led me to consider how frequently I click accept or agree without thought. I just want to navigate to the information on the website or the app to update so I can go about my day!

Considering the various methods in today’s world where a signature is used, whether an actual ink-produced name or an electronic signature, I decided to conduct a short search on the history of the signature. Not surprisingly, this quick jaunt on the internet led me to information about the use of seal in 3500 BC and the widespread use of the signature in the 17^th century when paper became commonplace. Asking someone to Sign Here in the 1600s determined the legality of a contract and represented a binding agreement with the person whose name appeared on the dotted line. And while my hope is that Emerging Adults (and seasoned adults too) will carefully consider what they are actually agreeing to when they sign their name, I want to ask you to reflect on someone who knew exactly what He was committing to when He willingly chose to Sign Here through His death on the cross.

While reading Brennan Manning’s The Signature of Jesus recently, I was compelled to consider that if I truly believe that “the Cross is the permanent signature of the risen Christ,” and if I desire “to live with the signature of Jesus written on the pages of [my] life,” then perhaps it is necessary for me to ponder whether or not the actions of my life reflect what I say I believe. Manning challenges me to truly ask myself, “Am I living a life that reflects Jesus’ agreement to Sign Here, fulfilling all of the debts that I could never pay?”

One of my takeaways from Manning’s insight is expressed clearly in his words, “Today the Christian community does not disturb the world. Why should it? The Cross is as commonplace on a pierced earring of the rock singer Madonna as it is on a tombstone…The longer I looked [at the crucifix], the more I realized that no man has ever loved me and no one ever could love me as he did…’Once you have experienced [the love of Jesus], nothing else in the world will seem more beautiful or desirable.’” Although the mention of Madonna might date his pop culture reference, this idea that a Christ-follower’s life should reflect something different than the culture around it, is a timeless, multigenerational concept.

What if, rather than accept this commonplace use of the symbol of the cross, I recognized it as the signature of Jesus, a commitment He made when He agreed to Sign Here, and chose to live my life day-in and day-out on the basis of this faith? What changes might occur in my life? Manning shares, “If we dared to live beyond our self-concern, if we refused to shrink from being vulnerable, if we took nothing but a compassionate attitude toward the world, if we were a counterculture to our nation’s lunatic lust for pride of place, power, and possessions, if we preferred to be faithful rather than successful, the walls of indifference to Jesus Christ would crumble…Christians filled with the authenticity, commitment, and generosity of Jesus would be the most spectacular sign in the history of the human race.”

Whew! I’ve experienced some Stepped-On Toes! I know I struggle with the balance to live in this world and not be of it, but it’s a daily challenge. But you know what? If Jesus was willing to Sign Here for me, shouldn’t I be willing to Sign Here for Him? Please share any thoughts you have about the importance of a signature in the comments below.

References:

DocuSign, Inc. (2022). From the quill to the stylus: The history of the signature in celebration of National ESIGN Day. Retrieved from https://www.docusign.com/blog/quill-stylus-history-signature-celebration-national-esign-day

Manning, B. (1996). The signature of Jesus. Multnomah Books.