When
Jesus Becomes a Statue
8/6/13
Anyone
who has read history understands that statues have portrayed many past people
in which a certain society has admired for some reason. We find these monuments in every historical
city and continue to find more of them on a weekly basis. A statue is a tribute, a landmark that
reminds us that the statue of the person once meant a great deal to that
area. But when we look at a statue do we
still consider that immortalized figure important enough to live how they
deemed their society to be or like their lives played out? It is easy for us to walk by a statue or
figurine and look at it with a cold heart since the person represented in the
statue is not around to physically remind us about their existence. I contend that the Church has allowed this
cold activity to infiltrate her heart when it comes to Jesus.
A
fair warning to those who do not like controversy or things said about their
beliefs or denominations. This article
is going to deal with a hard topic but it is a topic that is relevant for today
and it is also a topic that we have embraced as the Church; this topic is an
abomination to God and everything that He has provided for us and it is time we
take notice of this act within our lives and restore the meaning back to the
heart to which it belongs.
The
religious icon has always been an important figure within every church
setting. In almost every denomination
there are certain figures that are represented either as windows, as figurines
in the foyers, or as pictures hanging from a wall. There is nothing wrong with this act of
remembrance and in fact it is vital that we have these reminders so that we
never forget what the Church had to go through in its early years. These icons are also important for us to keep
their lives close to our hearts so that we may represent everything that they
stood for as well.
I am
not here to destroy the practice of having icons within the confines of the
church. However, I am here to establish
exactly what they mean in and to our lives and to what extent that these icons
play and have within our hearts. It is
the heart that matters to God and it is the heart that keeps us alive in every
way possible. There have been thousands
of books written and published concerning the lives of the saints, the birth
and growth of the Church and the many different icons that are represented
within the architecture in many of the church buildings around the world. There is nothing wrong with these articles
and books being published and I am sure that great meaning filled each page as
it was written, but what have we allowed these icons to become in our lives,
this is the question that we must answer.
One
must consider what a person thinks when they look upon a specific icon or
figurine of a person that has meant something to those in the past. In the past few years Russia has completed
some remodeling of their own to include the tearing down of some of their past
leaders statues. The statues of Lenin
and Stalin have been widely publicized as cranes are hauling their huge
appearances away that have stood in a particular spot for decades. A citizen of Russia must have conflicting
emotions when they witness such a sight because of the memories that they have
of that person or what they have been taught concerning that person and their
reign.
The
modern statues of these people mean something entirely different to those that
are alive now than to those that were alive back when these leaders were alive
and well. If you ask the older
generation that were alive back during their reigns, they will have personal
experiences that physically and emotionally tie them to these leaders but when
one asks the younger generations about these rulers, their answers will be
totally different and based upon a different plane since they did not have
direct contact with the Communist leaders of Russia.
Some
of the portions of the answers that would be provided by both age groups of
people will be consistent and similar in definition, this is a given since
humans are involved. But the life
experiences of the older generations would differ in that a personal account
can accurately be given about the people depicted in the statues. Their stories would come from the heart and
would reflect the conditions in which they responded to these leaders. The younger generations would not have these
experiences and their responses to the questions would come from other people’s
words or what they have read in books or articles. Is there a difference in these answers even
if both groups provide roughly the same conclusions about these statues?
The
next example that I am going to use is of a large and popular statue of Jesus
that is present overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is a magnificent statue in which it
depicts Jesus standing tall on top of a mountain with His hands stretched out
as if they are protecting the city at all times. I have included a picture of the statue that
I am using as a demonstration of what it looks like and just how majestic it
really can be when looked upon. The
picture also shows many people that have made the journey up to the statue and
are walking around its base. Yet, even
though there are many people there it seems like they are going on about their
business and not really paying much attention to the statue.
The
statue stands above the large city and given the fact that Brazil is one of the
larger Catholic nations one would guess that the statue has great meaning to
those who gaze upon its appearance.
Anyone remember what even occurs around February? It represents an upcoming season, and it is
celebrated every year and is also very popular in our country as well. It is Mardi Gras a week long party that
occurs every year before the season of Lent.
Rio is considered the Mecca or Jerusalem for this yearly event and it is
the ultimate experience if one wishes to attend this gathering. The city of Rio has a large crime rate and it
also has one of the largest prostitution rates in the world, and we cannot
leave out that Brazil and Rio house one of the transvestite communities on the
globe. Yet the city looks up at this
glorious statue every day and believes that it is under the protective arms of
Jesus all the while sinning at any and every opportunity that comes their
way.
Humans
believe that we can do anything we wish against the laws of God and still
believe that we are within His graceful arms of protection. This is the point that I am trying to make in
this article, God and Jesus have become like statues to our hearts and at the
same time have slammed our heart’s doors to them. We have even dead bolted our doors shut so
that no one can enter for fear of being told that they are wrong. It takes a bold stroke of selfishness and
pride to complete a daily sinful routine and then look up towards God and smile
for the blessings that He has bestowed upon our lives.
This
type of living and belief is a prime example of idolatry. The sole purpose of an idol is to gain
approval of one side of the present circumstance. It does not matter what side a person is
trying to approve of or for them to be approved by the idol either, the
ultimate goal is to gain the necessary access to its benefits whenever one
wishes without having to dedicate themselves or to believe that certain
consequences may abound later. This is
when an item becomes a statue within our lives and the truth of its function is
then dismissed, many times without us even knowing when this act occurred.
This
action by our hearts proves that God is a loving and just God since the
majority of us would have stricken these people off the face of the earth for
their gross disobedience. But God is
different from us in that He allows us to make a choice and then go with the
flow for a while and then if He needs to, make corrections. This is an amazing opportunity that we have
to make our own mistakes and then correct them in a Godly manner before God has
to step in and do things Himself. So,
why do we continue this practice when we have no idea when our time of leniency
has been exhausted?
There
are many examples of such behavior throughout history. I do not even have to bring up Biblical
references for this topic but one can look through the Bible and see those
accounts as well. We humans tend to be
quick in making a commitment to God and then falling by the wayside after a
certain amount of time. Many reasons
cause this to occur and each reason has its own roots. We must realize that we need God in our lives
every second of every day in order to survive this world. We also need to understand that we cannot
live without God in our hearts as well and that just looking up towards a
statue and remembering that the figure is there is not enough to protect us for
eternity.
If
we continually have God in our hearts and deep within our spirits then we will
have no desire or need to look upon these statues and icons for guidance,
remorse, or protection. Yes, these icons
and statues are very important to the Christian faith and I have no problems
with them being present but it is when they become the focus of our hearts that
they become useless and in placed in comparison to Christmas decorations at
another person’s work establishment.
I
can guarantee you that if a person keeps Jesus close to their heart and holds
tight to His laws and promises that when these people look upon icons within
the churches they will feel even more closer to God than ever before because
the true meaning of the icons and their lives are now a part of our physical
and current life. WE should never
worship these icons or statues for they are only symbols and could easily fix
our eyes upon them and then they would replace God in our hearts and then
automatically lose sight of God within our hearts as well.
Allow
God to fill your hearts with the love that Jesus’ hands have to offer. God is in the loving business and in the
restoration business and that is why He sent His son to die for us so that we
may once again have a connection with God.
A word of warning to those who refuse to listen and to heed the words of
God, rest assured that one day God will allow us to encounter devastating
actions in order to bring us back to His laws.
God does not wish to see us suffer any turmoil but He will allow us to
go through things if we continue in our ways of sin. God is waiting for us to turn our hearts back
to Him and to learn of His ways once more.
God loves us for He is our Father and He holds the plans of every person
that has ever been alive, those that are alive and those that will be alive.
Let
us take our eyes off of the statues and icons and replace these items with God
into our hearts. Restore your faith and
trust in God so that when we have the opportunity to look upon these items of
beauty we can have the comfort of knowing that as God was in control of that
icon’s life He lives and resides within our life just the same.
DLB
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