I was driving through "town" yesterday (using that loosely, as in-through one of the metro suburbs) when I passed a church with an "Easter display" right out front, right on the road. On first glance, that was all I thought about it. But then I looked again, and I was struck by the inappropriateness of it. Or maybe it was just wrong. Or something...
What was it? It was a plywood type cutout, in color, of Jesus carrying his cross. So, you ask, what could be wrong with that? Nothing on the surface. Perfectly applicable for Easter week. Except for the details.
Jesus...this was (as my friend WT often refers to him) the Anglo-Saxon Jesus. A clean, white, pale complected, blue-eyed Jesus. He was wearing a fresh, clean, nicely pressed white tunic with the obligatory blue cloak. His hair was nicely brushed and hanging in pretty waves down his back and over his shoulders.
He was kneeling down on one knee. I am sure this is to indicate the weight of the cross. But he looked so serene, as if he were actually kneeling to look at something that had caught his attention on the ground. His face was relaxed, not at all disturbed or concerned. His hands were folded gently on the cross. And on his head, adorning his neatly brushed hair was a crown of....something. It looked like a crown of ivy, or maybe a daisy chain.
It struck me, in the few seconds it took me to notice all this, that THIS is part of the problem with the church today. Not a church, not a particular local body, but the Church at large. Christians have cleaned Jesus up, made him something they can be comfortable with. And in the process, they have lost who He is and have failed to relay that reality to others.
People, I hate to break this to you, but the walk to Golgotha, carrying that cross, was UGLY. Jesus was dirty and bleeding. His flesh was torn. He was bruised and in pain. He was almost naked. ("Gasp!" said all the nice church ladies.) His hair hung dirty and sweaty and blood soaked. That crown was a crown of thorns, digging into his scalp. The cross was unbearably heavy. He was weak and tired and half-dead.
The Church doesn't like that image, because it isn't comfortable with the fact that our salvation cost something. It cost Jesus his life. It was expensive. And it costs us something. That is the problem, I think. Something that doesn't cost much is easy to dismiss. It's easy to put aside, disregard, put away when it isn't convenient. On the other hand, something that is costly requires something of us. It requires our attention. It required our devotion. It COSTS us something.
My salvation was costly. It was extravagant. It requires my complete devotion and all that I am. Jesus gave His life for me. My salvation requires that I give my life to Him.
