"in christ"

i have recently been contemplating what it means for someone to sign something "in christ." what are the ramifications of that? what does this mean to the people that read that particular signature? what responsibility does it carry?

it is funny to me that people will wear a shirt that says "jesus loves you" but at the same time proclaim with their sign that "god hates fags." i have a hard time reconciling those two statements. there seems to be some sort of disconnect between our actions and our speech.

seems like jesus faced the same issues. which is why he said things like, "if you claim to be in me, you must walk as i do." "is it possible to have both good and bad water come from the same fountain?" james asks. so is it really possible to claim with a bumper sticker that "jesus saves" while at the same time proclaiming that the person behind you is worthy of the one finger salute?
i guess that begs the question. is it possible to fill a message or a blog with all sort of condescention and derision then to sign it "in christ" believing that makes it ok?

the obvious argument is that these people are being corrected, so since jesus stands for truth should we not correct them? i guess i look at the instance of the woman caught in adultery for that. jesus is anything but harsh with her. he is anything but harsh with peter later. i have hard time believing that people can be corrected in their doctrine by someone who corrects them in a very unchristlike way.

i guess maybe we should just all evaluate a little better what we wear, what we put on our bumpers, how we sign blogs and emails. we should represent the one we claim to represent, with actions before words.
in the flesh.
chris