OK, I’m a sensitive guy.

Really.

But this whole ultra-sensitivity thing that’s been going on the past decade or so is driving me bonkers. This week, I read a story that was reminiscent of some peoples’ reaction to The Passion of the Christ, complaining about the violence and dubbing it The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre.

It seems that a crucifix, which has been on display at St. John’s Church in West Sussex (GB) since the sixties has been removed by the church. Why?

‘The crucifix expressed suffering, torment, pain and anguish. It was a scary image, particularly for children.

‘Parents didn’t want to walk past it with their kids, because they found it so horrifying.
‘It wasn’t a suitable image for the outside of a church wanting to welcome worshippers. In fact, it was a real put-off.

Yes, the cross is frightening to people, particularly children.

Rev Ewen Souter said the traditional Christian symbol was frightening children and that it would be replaced with a modern, stainless steel cross.

I’ve often wondered at how sanitized we’ve made the cross, and how much of the punch of what it represents gets lost on us, as a result. What if we, instead, had little guillotines on our necklaces? Or an electric chair in the spotlights on the front of our church buildings? Or polished bronze syringes & needles above our baptistries? Or little gallows figures on top of the communion tray covers?

According to Rev. Souter

‘We’re all about hope, encouragement and the joy of the Christian faith. We want to communicate good news, not bad news, so we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross.’

In one sense, I will agree with Rev. Souter – I think that all too often we Christians become so obsessed with the cross (Jesus’ death) that we forget the true “uplifting and inspiring symbol” given to us by Jesus – the empty tomb. Perhaps, instead of adorning our churches with empty crosses – literally and sometimes figuratively – we’d be more accurate by decorating them with a stone that has been rolled away…