The Old Rugged Cross

Please Note: This blog is strictly based on my convictions.  It's not meant to judge or criticize others for their choices.  I know not all think like me and that God convicts everyone differently.  This is my story of one of many convictions God lays on my heart.

Several vacations ago at the beach I saw a Bama t-shirt that I almost bought.  This t-shirt was really cute and really wanted it.  I wanted JB to be proud of me for supporting his beloved Crimson Tide and this shirt was the way to go.  It screamed Roll Tide.  It even sported a cross amongst the "Roll Tide", "Go Bama" slogans.  The cross was decorated in the sacred houndstooth pattern. I could show my religion and Bama loyalty at the same time.  I needed this shirt for the right reasons, so it seemed, Jesus and Bama.

I lingered around it vacillating back and forth on whether it was worth the price tag and JB's approval and pride. After the mental battle of price vs Bama pride...the $40 price tag was enough to leave it hanging on the rack.  But I couldn't get that shirt out of my mind.  I couldn't decide if it was because I really liked it and regretted not buying it or if it just intrigued me that much.  I kept thinking: "Jesus and Roll Tide...Jesus and Roll Tide...Crimson and Jesus...it's cute...the cross, it was cute...it was trendy, it was popular...it was fashionable...it was unique....it was cute, trendy, fashionable with little meaning."  That's IT...IT was all of the following: cute, fashionable, trendy, popular, cool...BUT most of all...the cross lacked meaning.  I had come to the revelation, if you will, that the cross on the shirt had little meaning. It was overshadowed by Roll Tide and houndstooth.  It shared the spotlight with other gods...football and fashion. It was cute, it was fashionable, it was trendy...all the characteristic man has made the cross what it is today.  All the characteristics that compromise, minimize and belittle the true meaning of the cross.  And then my reasons for not buying it changed.  The price tag of the shirt no longer mattered but the price of the cross was overwhelming to me.

And that's when I was convicted.  That's when God broke my heart of what I had made of His cross to be in my own world.  I had monogrammed and appliqued his cross to sell as fashionable, trendy and cute accessories and furthermore, I wore and used his cross for those same reasons. Yet, I rarely shared the true meaning to those who needed it.  I displayed his cross for the world to see as nothing more than a fashionable trend of decor.

For me, there are 2 realities of the cross. One being no greater than the other. Both needing to be remembered for the reality of its own meaning. And neither being fashionable, cute or trendy.

The first realities of the cross: it's rugged, harsh, cruel, heavy, gruesome and ultimately stained with the blood of an innocent man.  It was taken on by a Saviour in my place by a way of death.  It was where I should have been but instead saved from it because Christ found me worthy enough to take my place.  I deserve the death on that cross.  I am no better than the thief who was next to Jesus.  Now tell me, what is cute, fashionable and trendy about that? In understanding that I deserve the very death that Christ sacrificially took from me, I can't fathom the cross to be cute, fashionable and trendy. My sins put him on that cross and nothing about that can be deemed cute, fashionable or trendy. 

The 2nd reality of the cross: it's sacrificial love, it's life everlasting, it's victory over death.  It's freedom from eternal damnation, it's peace, it's joy, it's faith, it's hope and the greatest, it's love.  It covers the sins of all men.  It forgives and even more it redeems.  It's truth, it's healing, it's merciful and full of grace. When you treasure these realities and live with them in your heart you will find that nothing about them are cute, fashionable or trendy either because cute, fashionable and trendy are superficial, conditional, in the eye of the beholder and not the heart. They are ever changing and evolving with the culture. And sadly, this is has been done to the cross; not by God but by man, himself, including me.

Until next time,
The Old Rugged Cross