One of our friends recently posted her thoughts about the presence (and lack of) crosses in churches. I loved it and wanted to share it with everyone! Thanks Lisa for having the words to say what I was thinking!
From Lisa Pierce:
A sad trend is happening within a small stream of the Christian church. It is most identified with the ever popular contemporary movement and what would be termed “seeker sensitive”. Seeker sensitive church services tend to be designed around making people feel very welcome and eliminating obstacles that make the general church service feel foreign or uncomfortable. Many people are coming back into the church due to these intentional elements. It is exciting to see! But one move disturbs me. That is the removal of the cross in some of these services.
Why does this disturb me? Several reasons. First, Jesus spoke about it so much throughout his ministry- to disciples who did not understand. He admonished them to pick up their crosses daily and follow Him. They simply could not understand this until after Jesus’ death. My faith is grounded in the notion of sacrifice borne from love and a Savior who said, “pick up your cross daily and follow me”. Second, it is the sign of Christ’s fidelity. Although a method of torture, Jesus’ choice to stay on it- to not use His power to come off the cross shows His commitment to the Father in heaven and to us. So, we must continue to carry it and bear it throughout our life. Thirdly, and this is the place that hits closest to home for me…is that in some cultures…it is not permitted. I’ve been in countries where the cross isn’t popular and is considered offensive. During my time in Iraq, we were trained that crosses were not to be publicly displayed among the Iraqi populace.
So, here’s my story. Soldiers in Iraq were constantly seeking God’s presence and needing to know He was with us. I was one of those soldiers. On the night of January 1st 2005, we'd only been in country a few weeks. That evening we had the most incredible sunset-like none other I have ever seen. The sky was a deep orange and when I turned something caught my eye. A metal pole was standing behind and above a 10’ dirt barrier. Near the top of the pole, as it protruded from above the barrier, was a broken piece of angle iron hanging loosely from it. But when I looked at it from my angle-it formed a black cross against a blood, red sky. I was stunned! Christ was very present, even in what someone might consider junk or trash. What’s more, it stood outside and above our hedge of protection-ironically called a Hesco barrier. I took a photo and had it painted. It hangs in my living room to this day. Therefore, when churches can simply remove it because it may make people uncomfortable or give them negative opinions of the church…I wonder if we have missed the point. If we ever get to a place where we are told we CAN’T have it-it may change our perspective a bit.
Here are a few other thoughts. As the Christian church slowly gets rid of its crosses we begin to follow suit with Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons who also have emptied their churches of them. They believe it is idol worship to have a cross and that it is unthinkable that the instrument of Christ's brutal murder should be seen as holy or worthy of veneration. Our Unitarian friends do not believe in Christ’s divinity so they do not have a cross. Maybe the symbol is overused, maybe we cannot really understand the depth of its meaning… but I would hope that then the Christian church’s role becomes more of constantly reminding us of what that commitment is and leading us to a consistent and sacrificial call to discipleship- not just ridding their worship space of it. Mind you, this isn’t seeker friendly and it may not be culturally relevant…but Christ called us to something much higher and deeper than that, and His church to be counter cultural-to define the culture...to be authentic in a veneer society-so what does that look like?
Do we even need symbols? No…we only need Christ. Anything can become an idol whether it is symbols, the Bible, or a worship style. But, if you go back to the book of Leviticus that was to describe worship for the Israelites, it is filled with symbols that God Himself ordained. The lamp stands, the almonds from the branch, the Ark of the Covenant, the use of incense and light were all things that God ordained within the Holy Place-and the Israelites were admonished to remember what these meant.
The cross became the most well known symbol of the Christian faith sometime around 250 AD. Before that, what we know as the Ichthys, or fish, was used by the early Christians as their secret symbol and code. In order to know if the person they were meeting was friendly and a follower of The Way, they would draw the sign of the fish in the dirt. The early church was borne and grew out of persecution-something we have no clue about. The cross has been the single most used and consistent symbol of those who follow Christ. Yes, it has been abused. But its meaning and what it represented will always stand true. Before we so flippantly throw it out as not being convenient, not being seeker sensitive, getting in the way of our worship band, or what ever other reasons we name-maybe we should pause a moment and remember that not everyone around the world gets access the way we do. My hope and prayer is that we reflect upon Christ’s sacrifice, his fidelity, and the constant reminder that he told us to pick it up our cross daily and follow Him.
"Pick up your cross daily and follow me"- Jesus
The picture is of the cross in Iraq- January 1, 2005
