Well, I can’t let this one pass. “Butter Jesus,” also known as “Touchdown Jesus,” a 62-foot statue of Jesus (from the torso up) reaching into heaven, was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.
For the past six years, the statue has caught the attention of travelers on Interstate 75 near Cincinnati. It was constructed in front of the Solid Rock Church of Monroe, Ohio, out of steel, fiberglass, and Styrofoam.
The combination of Jesus and lightning is bound to set off a round of pop theological speculation, and cyberspace is already buzzing. Was this God’s punishment of the church for wasting money on a graven image? I haven’t heard anyone speculate that the devil might have done it. (Because of popular images of Zeus, God always gets credit for lightning, not the devil.)
It seems pretty obvious to me that the reason Butter Jesus burned down was because it was stuffed with Styrofoam – an extremely flammable product. I suppose the fiberglass was supposed to seal off the Styrofoam, but fiberglass is no match for lightning bolts.
On the other hand, a mundane explanation doesn’t mean this incident has no meaning. For one thing, the statue of Jesus turned out to be as transient as “the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven” (Matthew 6:30). Even monuments built to glorify God are temporary structures. (The Jerusalem Temple comes to mind.) There are better ways to give glory to God than with steel and Styrofoam. It seems to me Jesus spent a good bit of time teaching that it is what we do that gives glory to our Father in heaven.
A second thought: churches build sanctuaries (or “worship centers”), educational buildings, gymnasiums, hospitals, retirement homes, and lots of other structures all the time. We spend a lot of money on material buildings, because they provide places where ministry and worship take place. The value of any construction is measured by what goes on inside it, or what kind of witness is facilitated by it. Some church buildings sit mostly empty, historical relics or religious museums. The upkeep on a building that does nothing but memorialize the past often requires an obscene amount of money that could be better used to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate children, and generally improve quality of life in the name of Christ, the Lord of all life. I suppose the people of Solid Rock Church would argue that Butter Jesus was a powerful evangelistic tool, a witness for Christ seen by hundreds of thousands of people on a busy highway every day, but I have my doubts about how much change that kind of witness actually brings to peoples’ lives. I have the strong suspicion that the people most “inspired” by a big statue of Jesus are people who already go to a church of the ilk of Solid Rock. The heart of an agnostic is not strangely warmed by this sort of display. True evangelism is the hard work of real people exhibiting their faith in real life. There is no substitute.
A third observation: the before and after pictures of Butter Jesus are striking. I’m sure others will respond differently, but the “before” picture of this pale yellow Jesus standing waste deep in concrete and reaching up to heaven is comical to me. It seems so completely removed from the Jesus of the gospels that I can’t help but chuckle. The picture of the steel skeleton left after the fire, on the other hand, is chilling. It reminds me of war, violence, destruction, and the last remaining steel of the Twin Towers that stood defiantly amid the rubble of the 9/11 attacks. I want to turn away from that picture. And then, I realize that the “after” picture is a more accurate picture of Christ than the “before” picture. It is the abstract art of nature’s wrath, revealing the ongoing passion of Christ in the world. It is the image of Christ who stands waist-deep in the conflict, violence, and bloodshed that continues to ravage God’s creation, who joins the victims of the world’s sin in crying out to heaven for help.
Lightning did what the Solid Rock Church could not do. It revealed the ugliness of the cross once again, and reminded us that, while the ultimate victory is assured, the reign of God is not yet fulfilled.
Copyright 2010 by J. Mark Lawson
Comments