The Corruption of the Uncorrupted Cross

In the back of our church, somewhat out of the way in a place that no one can see, hangs a shabby wooden cross with a crown of thorns hanging across the cross bow. The cross is rough hewn and fairly ugly, and this morning was really the first morning that I noticed it. It struck me, especially when compared to the dark-finished, beautiful wooden cross that is located in the front, that our view of the cross is missing something crucial. We want the cross to be beautiful, to be easy to embrace and hold on to. A rough hewn, splintering cross is something that we’d rather hide in the back of the church where we don’t have to see it very often. Yet, I’m beginning to understand that our theology of the cross must not be blemished by the unblemished cross. We are called to take up the cross of Christ as we move throughout life, and the cross we want to hold on to is not one of suffering of self-giving. I think that we need to re-embrace the cross as it is, not as we’d like to see it. The cross must not simply hang in the front of the church as a symbol of beauty-it must become a reminder of the suffering that we’re called to embrace, and the self-giving love that we’re supposed to show to the world around us.