You know, if I wasn’t convinced that God doesn’t waste Her time meddling in humanity’s affairs, this would convince me that God is wasting Her time meddling in humanity’s affairs:
The “largest sculpture of Jesus Christ in America” was struck by lightning and consumed by fire near Cincinnati last night.
“Jesus statue destroyed by act of God” is how the Cincinnati Enquirer linked to its story this morning, saying the statue caught fire about 11:15 pm as a thunderstorm swept through Greater Cincinnati.
The statue was 62 feet high and weighed about eight tons, according to the Solid Rock Church, which says it was “a wood and styrofoam sculpture over a steel framework anchored in concrete… covered with a fiberglass mat and resin exterior.”
The irony of a 62-foot tall graven image being burned to the ground by an Act of God proves that if there is really a God, She has an unbelievably wicked sense of humor. Of course, members of the church seem to be sensing that this could be a message, but confused about what it could possibly mean, because, you know, if God is sending a message, burning a six story tall statue of His son to the ground is pretty subtle.
“I’m thinking it’s a sign from Jesus that we need to learn something, as Christians, as a whole, we’re not doing something right,” said church member Kevin Jones to WHIO.
Others have chimed in with their views. On the Internet, Lindsay Van Kirk of SportsGrid.com’s “Power Grid” blog wryly suggests that the fall of Touchdown Jesus is a sign that recent controversies in the football world may have “made God a bit mad.”
Mark Brumley, on Ingatius Press’ “Insight Scoop” blog, thinks that the fire is a sign that lightning and fiberglass do not mix according to the laws of God’s universe. But, he says, if the fire sparks self-examination among Christians who see the charred remains, maybe that was part of God’s plan.
“Since most of us usually have something to repent of or to repent more deeply of,” he wrote, “the destruction of the statue certainly can be taken as a providential reminder to turn away from sin.”
Yes, that’s it. It couldn’t have anything to do with anything else God said.
Of course, I don’t believe that the burning of MC 62 Ft. Jesus has anything much to do with anything, other than that if you’re going to build a giant idol that stretches up into the heavens, you should use non-flammable materials. That, and you’d better put some money aside for upkeep. The rebuilding of Touchdown Jesus is going to cost the Solid Rock Church $700,000. But it’s worth it, I’m sure. After all, it’s exactly what Jesus would have wanted his followers to do.
Out of curiosity, where did you get that YMCA photo? I ask because seeing it gave me a total “small world” moment because the people in it are friends of mine.
On the other hand, sometimes it’s alright to waste money that could have been given to the poor. Just so long as you waste it on Jesus. Pleasing Jesus is tricky like that.
Out of curiosity, where did you get that YMCA photo? I ask because seeing it gave me a total “small world” moment because the people in it are friends of mine.
I got it via the Schadenfreude.net website (it’s linked in the story); if your friends want a photo credit, let me know, they win the internet for that one.
I’m with Xelgaex. Seems that in this time of so many in such desperate need, $700k might be better spent doing something that matters to real, live people. Oh but that’s right, you don’t count unless you’re in a womb…
The YMCA style photo is a local tradition around here. Yes, I live near that damned monstrosity. People frequently drive out of town visitors up 75, just to say, “See, I told you I wasn’t joking.” Hmm, all of that should be rewritten in the past tense, I guess. However, they are planning to rebuild.
That is one of the better YMCA style photos I’ve seen, though. Some of the other styles involve playing with the perspective with various items, such as pizza, fish, guitars, you name it.
I generally approve of building large art monuments. If no one built large works of art except at times when there were no other more pressing needs, there’d never be any large works of art.
I hope they’ll consider taking this opportunity to redesign the statue, though, because the statue that burned down wasn’t very good.
Well you know maybe if people didn’t bother with this sort of thing god would have the time to deal with more pressing matters.
One would think they’d have something better to do with 700K$. And who builds statues out of styrofoam? I sure wish there’d been a video.
6 stories high and $700,000, and all they got was half a Jesus? Without fireproofing?
So it was an an act of god, but which god? My money’s on Zeus.