Crosses Still Standing

The life trajectory of the apostle Paul was that He was a learned man, following the Old Testament Law and believing that He was doing the will of God by persecuting the disciples of Jesus. But, He later wrote that the Law is intended to point us to Christ. In Galatians 2, Paul writes:
16 ...a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Crucified with Christ - He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, according to the Law, and by embracing what He did for us on the cross, we can be raised to new life in Jesus Christ. We are called to lay down our lives - to accept Him in salvation and to reject our old life. That is done by dying to self and living to Him. We were dead in our sins, but can be truly alive in Him. The cross reminds us of the love of Jesus - a love so strong that He was willing to endure death in order to redeem fallen humanity.

+++++

Before He went to the cross to give His life for us, Jesus was teaching His disciples that they were to give their lives for Him, according to Matthew 16:
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Christian, the cross is more than just merely a symbol - it is at the heart of what Jesus has done for us, giving His life so that we might be forgiven, rising from the dead so that we might have new life.

So, when we display the cross, we are testifying to what He has done for us and for all humanity.  Each year before Christmas, Faith Radio makes available seven-foot wooden crosses that testify to the true meaning of Christmas: that Jesus came to earth in the form of a man, born as a baby, walked through this world as a man, and gave His life as our substitute.  

Just weeks ago, prior to Easter, a church in Elizabethton, Tennessee, which is located outside Johnson City, engaged in a campaign in which it distributed wooden crosses, according to a tweet from local television station, WJHL, embedded in a Faithwire story.  Hunter Memorial Baptist Church also placed a 16-foot high and 7-foot wide cross on its property.

The catalyst for the church's efforts involves three crosses placed on Lynn Mountain, not far from the church, many, many years ago.  The Faithwire article says:

The crosses were reportedly placed on the property in the 1950s by a group of boys working on an Easter project for their church. The Johnson City Press noted the crosses had become a staple in the community and are often illuminated at Christmastime.

But, in 2018, the Freedom from Religion Foundation had complained about the crosses, and it continues to press the case, claiming that since the crosses are on public land, they should be removed.  But, thankfully, just weeks ago, Elizabethton City Attorney Roger Day released a statement in favor of the crosses.

According to the Faithwire article:

Rather than an “obvious message” bolstering Christianity, he said the crosses reflect another situation the Supreme Court ruled on in 2019 — a case about a 40-foot veteran’s memorial in Bladensburg, Maryland, according to the Johnson City Press.

“I have reviewed the current law regarding displays of religious symbols, specifically, the U.S. Supreme Court Case of American Legion v. American Humanist Association,” Day wrote. “I agree with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in American Legion, which held that ‘long standing monuments, symbols and practices’ with ‘religious associations have’ a ‘presumption of constitutionality.'”

He concluded the statement with his contention the crosses can remain and “do not violate the separation of church and state.”

Christian legal advocacy organization First Liberty backs him up, writing: “There is no indication the Lynn Mountain cross display runs afoul of the Constitution...The display’s reported history and tradition alone make that clear.”

WJHL states: "First Liberty Institute is familiar with how the Freedom From Religion Foundation operates." It quoted First Liberty Senior Counsel Roger Byron, who said: “Their standard operation is to send letters like this to small government entities all around the country attempting to coerce them or frighten them into removing a display or symbol that may be erected on government property that includes some type of religious component..."

We have to understand that there are organizations like FFRF who wish to remove vestiges of religious practice from our nation, and they use intimidation tactics in order to do so.  The officials in this Tennessee city are standing with the U.S. Supreme Court in its ruling the city attorney believes can be applied to this long-standing display.  We can realize that just because a government entity is allowing the "free exercise of religion," according to the First Amendment, it is not necessarily endorsing a religion.  And, there will be times when the government and Christian ministries will partner together - witness the dependence on non-government, even religious organizations, when a disaster occurs, for one example.

We can recognize the meaning of the cross for each of us.  On the cross, Jesus was subject to a brutal death, but He did that out of love for us.  And, even before He was put to death in that way, He referred to His disciples, His followers, taking up their cross and following Him.  The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 2 that we have been crucified with Christ.  That means that because Jesus died, if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we die with Him and are raised to new life.  The risen Savior, who lives in His people, represents hope for our world, and the power of the symbol of the cross can remind a fallen world that, yes, there is hope, and God loves all of us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins.