Toppling Statues

Recently there has been a lot of talk about statues being toppled or removed from public places.  Many of these statues have been of Confederate leaders.  To show my cards, I feel no remorse over statues of slavery protecting rebels being removed from publicly owned places.  I myself am not the type that would show up at a topple a statue rally, but there are multiple reasons why those statues are out of place in the public sphere.

Many that are against the removal of these statues complain that it is a slippery slope.  Slippery slope is a logical fallacy.  All things stop somewhere.  That being said, there have been people that have moved beyond removing statues of people who fought to preserve slavery in America to statues of others and there is just enough chaos now that other statues have been taken down.  In fact, the activist Shaun King suggested that statues of Jesus should be removed because He's often portrayed as a white man and King believes these statues have been used to support white supremacy.

I do not believe that protestors should topple any statues of Jesus.  Statues and paintings on private property should not be disturbed by those that don't own or control that private property.  But King's tweet has caused many to think about this question:

Should churches display statues and paintings of Jesus?

My short answer is 'no' and it doesn't primarily have to do with the racial issues being discussed today.

In the last several years I have come to understand that the 2nd Commandment forbids making images of God.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on the earth beneath or the waters below.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them...." Exodus 20:4-5a

Does a statue of Jesus break this commandment?  Some may say that the law was against having idols of other gods.  It is, in part.  But the 1st Commandment says in Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me."  So, I believe that the 2nd Commandment is about idols of other gods and idols/statues of Yahweh.  Jesus is Yahweh.

It could be that you might make a statue of Jesus without worshipping it.  I truly believe that is possible for a person.  However, we are prone to worship things.  We are prone to use things like a good luck charm.  We might use a statue of Jesus or a crucifix the same way a rabbit's foot might be used.  We are prone to worship physical things, so why tempt ourselves or our congregation by erecting a statue of Christ?

In the Bible we see even good things being used as idols of worship.  Even things prescribed by God to be made were turned into idols by the hearts of the people.  Remember the bronze serpent on the pole that God told Moses to make in the book of Numbers?  The people would look at it and be saved from the poisonous snake bites.  Well, by 2 Kings the people were worshipping it.  In 2 Kings 18:4 King Hoshea, who was noted as a good king, destroyed idols of other gods and the bronze snake that Moses had made.  The people had begun to worship it and call it Nehushtan.  An aid of worship became an object of worship.

Or the temple itself.  When Jesus Himself walked among the people the leaders were more in awe of the temple.  In John 2:19 Jesus said that if the temple was torn down He would raise it in three days.  His accusers used that against Him in His trial.  They claimed He said He was going to topple the temple (Mark 14:58).  The people revered the temple more than what the temple pointed to.  We are just as prone to do this.

Another problem with statues of Jesus is that we are prone to make Him in our image instead of letting Him make us in His.  I don't believe it is always nefarious when pictures or statues of Jesus show Him looking like the people who made them.  Cultures all across this world do this, but I do find it troublesome.  Too often we don't stop at making Jesus look like us in appearance, we also try to make Him vote like us and go to movies like us and shop like us.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had ample space to include a description of Jesus' appearance, but they don't.  Not one of the Gospels say, "He was short". Not one says, "His hair was flowingly long."  There isn't one single mention of what He looked like.  If we were supposed to be making images of Christ then the Bible isn't much help.  Isaiah prophesied that His beard would be pull out (Isaiah 50:6).  That's the only description of the pre-ascended Christ.  The best descriptions of Jesus are in the book of Revelation but I have yet to see a statue of Jesus "dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire.  His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters.  In His hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword.  His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance." Revelation 1:13-16.

How many statues of Jesus with a sword coming out of His mouth have you seen?

If you're thinking I'm off the deep end, I understand you.  I wasn't always sure that I would oppose a painting of Jesus in our church sanctuary or a statue of Him out front.  I was pointed to this understanding by J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God.  Packer wrote in chapter three the following while quoting Charles Hodge:  "idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images."  Packer goes on to say, "In its Christian application, this means that we are not to make use of visual or pictorial representations of the triune God, or of any person of the Trinity, for the purposes of Christian worship."

Packer admits that the question of what to do with Sunday School classes for kids in light of this is difficult.  But quickly (and you should just read Knowing God for yourself) here are his two reasons why we should not make any images of the triune God or a person of God, including Jesus.  1) Images dishonor God, for they obscure His glory.  2) Images mislead us, for they convey false ideas about God.

Close your eyes right now and picture Jesus.  See, you have an image and the Bible didn't put it there.  An artist did.  I'm for art, but I'm more for the 2nd Commandment.

I don't think that protestors should be toppling statues of Jesus.  I think that would be wrong.  However, I think churches should honestly consider whether their iconography of Jesus violates the very laws and principles He gave His church.

You likely differ from me in this view, but I encourage you to think deeply about it today.