What happened on the cross was the greatest act of love that humanity has ever experienced. The cross is where Jesus, the living embodiment of innocence, stepped forward and took on the sin of all mankind. Now many, many years later we still look at the cross at admire it. But some of us rather than worship the man who died on the cross end up worship the cross itself.
Stop.
A majority of churches out there today have an empty cross standing erect behind the pulpit. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing by any means. I for one am in support of having a cross standing up on stage. But many people, when they look at the cross, tend to praise that object rather than Jesus.
John Calvin rejected the idea of having a crucifix or cross in churches for fear of people falling into idolatry. Now sure enough, all these years later, that is exactly what has happened in the modern day church. We worship the cross not Jesus.
Stop.
I'm not trying to say the cross isn't important or that we should forget it. But we should remember the whole reason that Jesus died on it. We are a broken race. We were (and still are) so dead in our own sins that we need a Savior. There had to be blood shed on our behalf for our sins. There had to be a sacrifice of atonement. So Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins. And that is why we remember the cross. Because that is where our God died for us. But now we have looked past the man who died on the cross and only look at the cross itself.
Stop.
We need to start praying to Jesus and not the cross. Those who pray to the cross are no better than the Israelites who prayed to the Golden Calf in the wilderness. It's idolatry through and through.
So stop it.
Stop praying to the cross and pray to the man who came and painfully died on it. True prayer is that which is fervently done towards Jesus Christ. Not to some wood. The cross will not hear your prayers. The cross is there for us to remember the sacrifice our God made for us, not to hear our prayers.
The cross is a beautiful thing; it represents love, life, death, pain, grace, and mercy and so much more. But if we start viewing the cross as an idol than we throw all that out the window. We disregard Christ and elevate the cross. So as I said before: Pray to Jesus Christ our Lord, not the cross. Stop worshiping the cross.
Stop.
