My buddy Tom Girsch of Lean Left sent me this picture, which he took in Memphis. Tom and I disagree about lots of things — stuff like politics (well, sometimes) and religion — but we agree on this: ugh!!! This is wrong on so many levels. If it really cost $260K as Tom reports, that’s a sin. And the message it sends to those outside the Christian faith is awful. Some of us may look at this and think, “yes, Jesus gives freedom to the tired, the hungry, the huddled masses, through the cross.” That’s true, and it’s an important message. But for most people outside the American evangelical subculture, this says “America: by, for, and of Christians, and no one else.” Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong! Don’t confuse our national Constitutional liberties with our freedom in Christ. Our Constituional liberties are precious. Iin many ways they are rooted in Christian anthropology, but it is Christian anthropology as filtered through Enlightenment ideals, which are bound in culture and time, and which are not always particularly “Christian.” Our freedom in Christ is far greater, and transcends time, territory and culture. The message of freedom through the cross should be proclaimed without this cultural baggage.
One reply on “LiberJesus”
David:
Actually, $260K is one of two conflicting cost estimates I’d seen. The other was $2.5 million! Yikes!
But for most people outside the American evangelical subculture, this says “America: by, for, and of Christians, and no one else.”
This is exactly correct. Further, I cynically suspect that this is the message that it’s intended to send.