Christ Cove

I took this photo in front of the World Outreach Dome (W.O.R.D.) in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Statue of Liberty, now wearing Jehovah’s Crown, defiantly raises that old rugged cross.

My car magically found its way into park as my hand found the camera zoom. I stood, speechless, marveling up at the revised icon. Yet again, Christians have put more dollars than brain cells into their collection plate, erecting an idol to ignorance that symbolizes the belief that a Christian’s job is “to return America to Christ."

In 2001, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s Chief Justice Roy Moore for displaying a wooden set of the Ten Commandments. Moore retaliated with an even larger 5,280 lbs. granite version (paid for with taxpayers’ dollars). Mt. Sinai became the Alabama Supreme Court rotunda as Moore unveiled the Ten Commandments saying, “May this day mark the…return to the knowledge of God in our land.”

Both Moore and the monument were eventually removed, to the dismay of thousands of protesting Christians who had spent weeks outside the courthouse.

Earlier this month a sculpture titled “My Sweet Lord," depicting a crucified Jesus made of chocolate, was banned in New York after much controversy. Some Christians called in death threats to the artist, Cosimo Cavallaro.

Bill Donahue, leader of the watchdog Catholic League, called it “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.” Mr. Donahue, if that was the worst attack on your Christian sensibilities, then you’ve been a very lucky man (and haven’t traveled much).

These are just two examples of a good motive—standing up for moral sanctity—turning into further pettiness and inconsistency within the religious community.

The issue of God’s name on our currency is another controversy that will intensify as it is most likely removed in the coming decades. There are sure to be Christians picketing. There are sure to be bumper stickers. And I all can think of is the spec of white powder brushing up over God’s printed name and into the nose of some junkie who just shot a convenient store owner for his daily wage. “In God” the gangster trusts. “In God” the prostitute trusts. “In God” the congressman trusts. And it is at that moment that the hatred from Muslim extremists towards America’s hypocrisy becomes perfectly clear.

I don’t fully understand the politics behind our Constitution, our First Amendment, or the separation of Church and State. I don’t pretend to. But as a Christian, I can voice my frustration with those who still believe in some “manifest destiny” for this ungodly nation. They vote for a President like they’re voting for a preacher: “Whichever Republican prays the most will get my vote.”

Before Jesus offered his famous “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s,” the Pharisees said of his personality: “Teacher… you aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are (Mt. 22:16).” Jesus used no bullhorn or billboard, but offered a lifestyle to the world.


I am not politicking for either side of current-day controversies; I am simply tired of the over-reliance on symbols to speak for our faith. Christians shouldn’t need statues, t-shirts, tattoos, or even a moral President to follow Christ. If our President supports gay marriage or abortion, we are to follow Christ. If our media begins saying the “F” word on the 6 o’clock news, we are to follow Christ. If our artists begin making sacrilegious sculptures made of mozzarella cheese, we are to follow Christ. If our retailers stop saying “Merry Christmas,” SO WHAT: we are to follow Christ. And if our government begins hunting Christians down, throwing them in jail, and nailing them to posts along our interstates, we are still to follow Christ because we are not responsible to change the world, but, as Gandhi said, to “be the change you want to see in the world.”

God bless America? God bless the USA? God bless Texas?

God won’t bless one lazy acre of this country before he blesses the woman in India who has nothing but still gives to her children, the man on death row who prays at night but has never told anyone, and the child in Africa who has never tasted communion or worn a tie to church, but knows more about Jesus because he actually loves his brother more than himself.

God has blessed America. Is this how we repay him?