Dayton Daily News: Lightning Strikes Jesus Statue
The evangelical Solid Rock Church who erected the statue in 2004 for a whopping $250,000 has already made a decision to rebuild it, despite it's burning to ashes. If it were caused by arsen, the decision to rebuild would make a bit more sense. However, the statue's demise came from a bolt of lightening – something completely out of the hands of any man.
This story brings two points to mind:
One: Some people will strain their eyes to see Mother Theresa in a cinnamon roll and claim it to be a sign from the heavens. Or they'll travel thousands of miles to see mold on the side of a barn in the shape of the virgin Mary. The premature death of Heath Ledger is God telling the world that homosexuality remains an abhorrent sin. Signs from God, all of them of course. A way for God to communicate his wishes to his people on earth. Of course. But if he sends a freakin' bolt of lightening into your 6-story statue of Jesus, maybe you should give it a second thought before reconstructing it. These church owners are bound on having this gaudy monstrosity rebuilt, so they're chalking it up to nature, an accident, who knows what. I think this just shows how people will twist any circumstances to either invent or ignore the message of God to fit their agenda.Two: There is sometimes a bit of debate about whether or not statues are permitted in Christian worship. Some say they're used to simply glorify god/jesus/saints/etc, others say they're actually worshipping these idols and that's wrong. Maybe this statue was a sin, so Jesus himself burned it down. Maybe it was just the fact that the steel reinforcement and lightening have a great relationship. I just find it rather obscene that this church spent $250,000 building this gaudy statue of Jesus, and after it was struck down, they'll probably spend the same quarter million. That's half a million dollars to build a statue, instead of using the money to help the poor, which is essentially what the gospel tells Christians they are supposed to do. In the book of John, men sold their lands, came to Jesus and laid down all their possessions at his feet to follow him. They didn't build 6-story monstrous statues of him.
Now on the other hand, I'm a huge fan of the Sistine Chapel. I've seen it with my own eyes, and it's a breathtaking achievement of mankind to be sure. But it's basically a huge, expensive piece of art created to glorify God. By acknowledging this, I accept that my views toward the statue may be unjustified. But DAMN that thing was just so gaudy almost to the point of silliness! Ok rant over.
lol agreed on spending the atrocious amount of $ on a statue, especially on difficult financial times such as these days.
ReplyDeleteTo separate this statue from the Sistine Chapel, the Sistine Chapel tells of the Bible story. It was commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 to 1512. It has a series of nine paintings showing God's Creation of the World, God's Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind's Fall from God's Grace (u like that? Wikipedia). So in a sense its a bit better than 60' statue... but who's to say that it still can't be used for His glory.
They should probably invest in better grounding and replacing their fried audio equipment before erecting another $250k statue.
A true story from high school:
ReplyDeleteMy friend Matt's mother was more or less the town lunatic and, unfortunately, I mean that in the religious fervor sense. A harsh, unstable lady who rained down verbal fire and brimstone on anyone who disagreed with her in any way. An exception in Christian circles, but vocal minorities are called vocal minorities for a reason.
Matt's mom told Matt she didn't feel good about the camping trip he'd planned with a couple of friends, but Matt went anyhow. While on the trip, Matt went exploring in the woods at night with a flashlight. He was carrying gear in both hands, so, genius that he was, he held the flashlight in his mouth. At one point, he decided to make it back to the campsite as fast as possible, so he started running. He crashed into a tree and the flashlight knocked out his front teeth.
Needless to say, Matt's mother was furious when he returned and she read Matt the riot act. She insisted that Matt had not honored God's command to Honor Thy Father And Mother when he went camping and this was clearly God's demonstration of what happens when you disobey a commandment. Matt agreed, felt guilty and repented of dishonoring his mom. Well, he repented that day anyhow.
When Matt told me the story, I asked him if he was positive that that's what God was teaching him through his missing teeth. He insisted that it was and asked what else God could possibly be teaching him through an experience like that?
I said, "is it possible that God was teaching you not to run through the woods at night with a flashlight in your mouth?"
I think your "sign from God" rant is a bit of a straw man. I hear where you're coming from, but is the tirade against people who see the virgin Mary in a cinnamon bun and if so, what's the point? You seem to cherry pick the lunatics.
Did God have a hand in destroying the Jesus statue? Possibly, who knows? If so, is it "obvious" that God's trying to say He doesn't like Jesus? Or that He's trying to teach Solid Rock to give more to the poor? Sure, it's possible. I just don't think it's a given.
Your Sistine Chapel point is apt. Was that money well spent? How many have been inspired or "blessed" for how many centuries by that work? Is the 500 years that thing has endured nullified by the hungry people in the 16th century who "deserved" to be helped?
I'm not trying to be glib or insensitive, I just don't think it's a simple equation. I mentioned the passage in John 12 and Mark 14 about Jesus' anointing with expensive perfume to demonstrate that 1) no, it doesn't go against "everything" Jesus ever taught and 2) God and the world are more complex than simply "What about money?" "Spend money on the poor." God rarely fits into the special little box we think He should fit into.
I still say $250k is way too much to charge for a big Jesus statue, particularly if it can't even survive a little lightning. If Solid Rock is guilty of anything, it's being hoodwinked by an overpriced sculptor.
Christians have long felt good about their idol worship by calling it "glorifying god". Whatever lets them sleep at night...
ReplyDeleteThe temples and churches we look at now as beautiful art and architecture (and they are) were very often part of a pissing contest between kings/rulers, or a way to show off their power to their people. They used the equivalent of millions (or tens of millions) of dollars for this, all of which could have gone to help people - we really haven't come too far since then (except it's private churches now, and public ones earlier).
In the end, let 'em do what they want. Logic about "what justifies a message from god" isn't going to convince anyone who already thinks all good things are God's work, and all bad things are chance/fate/man's fault.