As the saying goes...."no cross, no Christ". A fitting metaphor for the Gospel according to Joel.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" isn't Joel's favorite piece of Scripture.
I wish he could. :)
Interesting you should say that (I've never heard it before).
Several years ago for about a year, I attended a Baptist church that a friend encouraged me to join. Other than the occasional funeral or wedding, I had never had any affiliation with religion in my entire life.
The one thing that was most noticeable at this church was that there was no cross inside......I asked my friend why and he tried to explain to me that the church worshipped Jesus and not a symbol which he said the cross was.......
After seeing all the scandals within the Catholic churches, the money grubbing Baptist televangelists such as Jimmy Baker, Swagert and all of them, there is a lot of doubt and cynicism in my mind about the legitimacy of churches........I met the pastor of my friend's church once and would watch him leave the stage after his sermons. There was something about his eyes that just wasn't right and sorta creeped me out........
I know that's not a fair thing to say but nevertheless that's how I felt and one of the reasons I stopped going to that church.
I don't know what a good church is or what to look for in a church. Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists,....I know people in all of them and they're all good people.....I just don't know what's right for me or even if a church is the answer for me.
" The best way to help the poor is not to be one."
A decoration (or lack of it) doesn't make or break a church. My church in Raleigh, NC, is a very powerful, successful, and growing church, and their sanctuary doesn't have a cross either. Guess I've been involved with a cult this whole time...