“It’s okay to take the cross off your stage.” Whenever I chat with churches at conferences or in person, that’s one of the big thoughts I challenge them with.
I always smile a little watching people react to this statement. For many it feels like heresy. Or at best it makes them a little bit uncomfortable.
The Bible never really told us we need the cross in our churches. In fact, for the early church, it would have been pretty weird. The cross was a torture and death device. It’d be like our churches commemorating someone by putting a statue of water boarding in our church. Or the electric chair. That would feel more like the latest Saw movie than a religious ritual.
And there’s nothing wrong with putting a cross on your church stage. The cross is a powerful symbol of Christianity. It represents a pinnacle moment in our faith.
But the cross is everywhere. Necklaces. Bumpers. Church buildings. Walls in Christian homes. It’s so pervasive in our culture that it’s easy to become numb its meaning.
That’s why I suggest churches remove it from their stage. Not to erase it from culture. But to keep people from being numb to it. Then, when you want to remember the cross, bring it back out. Imagine the impact it would have if you’d seen it for the first time.
I believe that’s one of the big reasons cultural change is so important. Our words, our symbols, our thoughts…they lose meaning over time. We use and abuse the concepts and visuals and become numb to them.
Culture changes so can experience the best things in a new way. So things can impact us emotionally. So we can experience things again for what feels like the first time.
That’s why I embrace cultural change and hope I always can. I can’t afford to grow numb to the wonder and beauty around me.