The Cross – A Reminder of Salvation and Redemption or a Tool for Idol Worship

It sounds like an odd title I know, but it is something that is quite serious.  Let me start with how I was confronted with this.  A few months ago I heard a song on the radio, the song will remain nameless out of respect for the artist(s).  It was an okay song, not one I particularly liked at first, but it started to grow on me.  Anyways, as I was singing the song one day it came to the bridge and it was talking about the cross and lifting it high.  As I sang those words, I was hit with an immediate conviction.  Why am I lifting the cross high?  In worship, or anything else for that matter, God should be who is lifted high and nothing else.  I actually became quite irritated by this, and set out to see if this is a trend that the church as a whole needs to be wary of.

First thing I did, and continue to do, is be in prayer about it.  If there is something I’m missing I want to make sure God reveals that to me, but if the church is starting to become misguided then I want to make sure I’m praying for the church to correct itself.  I also brought this to my wife and some brothers in Christ, one being my pastor, as well to seek counsel.  Also, to make sure all my bases are covered, God’s word has been searched for answers as well. 

When God gave Moses the 10 Commandments the first two were – “7You shall have no other gods before (besides) Me.  8You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 9you shall not bow down to them nor serve them” (Deuteronomy 6:7-9a).  God is pretty clear that He is God and that is all.  Any form of prayer and worship should be directed to Him and nothing else.  That should be easy.  Most people know the 10 Commandments, and most Christians know not to subject themselves to idol worship, I hope anyway.  The heart of my concern is not that people are worshipping the cross on purpose; my concern is that people are worshipping the cross without even knowing it, which can have dire consequences.

Lets take a look at a story from 1 Samuel 4.  Israel goes out to battle against the Philistines.  They meet in battle, Israel loses, and about 4 thousand men are killed.  In verse 3 of 1 Samuel chapter 4 it says, “And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines?  Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies.”  So the ark gets brought, they go again to battle the Philistines, Israel loses again, and this time they lose 30 thousand men.  Now I get Israel’s thinking here.  When God instructed Moses to build the Ark of the Covenant it was so His Spirit could sit atop the ark between the cherubim, guide Israel out of the wilderness, into the promised land of Israel, and into victory against their enemies so they could inhabit the Promised Land.  There were other reasons the ark was built, but they don’t need to be mentioned for this.  So, Israel goes into battle against the Philistines, lose, and their first and only thought as to why is because the ark is not with them.  So they get the ark because they believe, “that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies”.  Their assumptions are all wrong.  They don’t recognize that it is God that brought them victory before, so instead of going to God first and seek His help for victory, they have made a god for themselves in the ark, and are seeking it to bring them victory.  This thinking brought about some serious casualties, 30 thousand to be exact, along with a loss to the Philistines in battle.

One of the things about scripture is that there are certain topics that are always repeating themselves.  When we look at the cross, at least for me, I’m reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made in dying for my sins so that I can be saved and His blood being spilt for my redemption according to the riches of God’s grace.  Now what happened on the cross, God did that.  Not the cross.  However, it is my fear that what Israel did with the ark is happening with the cross today.  This is being done by translating what God did through Jesus on the cross to the cross doing that.  Sounds crazy.  I know.  Here is a real life example.  There is a cross hanging in a local church.  Whenever that cross is obstructed, complaints are heard in mass numbers because it prevents them from being able to worship and pray.  In the natural, you say what’s wrong with that.  It reminds us of our salvation and redemption.  It’s disrespectful to cover a symbol to our faith.  In the spiritual, however, if you need the cross to worship then what exactly are you worshipping?  The definition of an idol, according to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, is a representation or symbol of an object for worship.  It is something substituted, usually something that can be physically touched and/or hand-made, for the true and living God.  Idolatry is the worship of that idol.  “Worship of something created as opposed to the Creator Himself” (Nelson’s Bible Dictionary, idolatry).  I know that on occasion when the word “cross” is used it’s referring to what Jesus did on it.  Simply by saying “cross” we are stating how Jesus died there and our sins are forgiven.  There's also the phrase "look to the cross" which could reference to look to Jesus.  I get that, but it’s still, in my opinion, a dangerous slippery slope.  The more this happens the more the cross becomes a symbol for Jesus and now there is an idol created because the cross is being substituted for Jesus.  The only symbol for Jesus we should have is Jesus.     

Let’s take a look at an old hymn.  I would imagine this hymn has been sung in almost every church.  Being that it is public domain, here are the lyrics:

The Old Rugged Cross © By:  George Bennard

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross

The emblem of suff’ring and shame and I love that old cross

Where the dearest and best for a world lost of sinners was slain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down

I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown

Oh the old rugged cross so despised by the world

Has a wondrous attraction for me

For the dear Lamb of God left His Glory above

To bear it to dark Calvary

In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine

A wondrous beauty I see

For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died

To pardon and sanctify me

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true

It’s shame and reproach gladly bear

Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away

Where His Glory forever I’ll share

Now this old hymn starts out great.  It talks about how the cross is an emblem of suffering, kind of how I stated it earlier, but then it goes downhill from there.  As you read the lyrics it goes into loving the cross, cherishing the cross, clinging to the cross, and being true to the cross.  Hear my heart in this.  When singing this song, whether in worship, as a prayer, or just singing it for the sake of singing it, God is hearing every word.  So as these words come from the mouth, God hears how you love the cross, cherish the cross, cling to the cross, and want to be true to the cross, but hears of no affections towards Him.  God says in Deuteronomy 5:9, “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God”.  It’s a jealous love.  He wants our affection and love because He loves us with an unfailing love.  It’s like a marriage.  In fact, if you read the book of Hosea, you would see this perfectly laid out.  God is, or should be if He isn’t in your life, the object of our affection, praise, and worship.  Now I’m not trying to bash the Old Rugged Cross hymn.  In fact, if it said I love what Jesus did for me on the cross, I cherish what Jesus did for me on the cross, I cling to Jesus because of what He did for me on the cross, I want to be true to Jesus because of what He did on the cross then I would have no problem with this, but it doesn’t and there are many songs that point to the cross like this one does and not Jesus.  I’m just saying to be careful and understand what you are in fact listening and singing along to.  This doesn’t stop with songs either.  I know of at least one religion that has special prayers to the cross as well.  We can take this a step further and talk about how we adorn ourselves with jewelry, clothing, and tattoos of the cross, (I have two out of these three) but I will digress. 

Now what kind of dire consequences will be seen if this type of idolatry is continued?  Apostasy is the biggest one I could see happening.  Apostasy is defined by Hebrews 3:12, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God”.  Apostasy is denouncing your faith in God because you stop believing in Him.  What can cause disbelief in God?  Praying to and worship something that is not God, but believing it is God, and then getting mad at God because He is not responding to you.  How can God respond if you’re not even talking to Him?  


So, is the cross a reminder of salvation and redemption or a tool for idol worship?  It is in my opinion that it is in danger of becoming both.  Understand, this is just a viewpoint.  This is meant to inspire conversation and warn of the dangers of putting an inanimate object before the Almighty, All Loving God Himself.