The Cross: A secular symbol

The Cross; a worldwide symbol of the Christian faith and an icon to the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ for all humanity, but what does it mean in the post-modern world? It has become something of a fashion icon for the secular world, or possibly as a new way of expressing one’s faith in Christ for the fashion conscious believer, but is this ever appropriate?

The first question that we must ask is what does the cross mean? The cross is Christ becoming part of man’s history, when Jesus dies on the cross he is the Word of God becoming a reality. Furthermore it is the point at which God himself dies, as Bonhoeffer would put it: Jesus experiences total humiliation and faces rejection by God. “Death on the cross means to suffer and to die as one rejected and cast out.” (Cost of Discipleship) Bonhoeffer would agree that every disciple of Christ has their own cross to bear “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Matthew (16:24) so what is the cross, is it suffering, rejection and death? Or is it hope, power and Christ’s victory embedded in history? It is all these things and more.

If the Cross is such a powerful symbol then it seems little short of heresy and blaspheming to wear it in such a casual manner, unless one is particularly committed to its symbolism as God’s victory, but in this way one’s actions must reflect their statement. There are of course those who understand that by wearing the cross they are making themselves a part of the visible community of the Church and of Jesus Christ, but these people are aware that their only judge is Christ. The more likely reason is that the post-Enlightened peoples are rebelling against religion’s established order; they wear it as an ironic statement so that when questioned “Are you a Christian?” They may proudly announce “No, I am not!” In defiance of God himself.

To rebel against religion is nothing new, so their insubordination is not quite as powerful as they may think. Some part of me says this is a good thing, we are fulfilling Nietzsche’s prophesy of new value in a secular world and rising up above mere religion, but I don’t feel humans are quite there yet, by even acknowledging the icon of the Cross we are admitting something about Christianity so we have not truly transcended it. Some might say that in the spirit of post-modernism they simply do-away with the symbolism of the Cross and have it instead as a shape, but I reject this notion, no-one walks around with SS earrings or a jumper anointed with swastikas so there must be some part that considers the symbol before they wear it. These people are quick to forget that the Crusaders marched under the same banner.

In conclusion society as a whole no longer needs God, this is obvious, but to rid ourselves of Christ in such a lethargic manner as to cause us to forget any notion of its true meaning, this is the worst form of cheap grace, it would be better for us to have bibles destroyed and Churches burned down rather than to face the slow decent into memory by a world that doesn't care, in this way, Christ has died a second time.

“The Cross is not random suffering, but necessary suffering. The Cross is not suffering that stems from natural existence; it is the suffering that comes from being Christian.” – Bonhoeffer (Cost of Discipleship)