I remember being on a school chorus trip and one of the members was going on about how every image he saw when we sang in a chapel was of Christ on the cross, and I remember at my Presbyterian church !!!! one of the choir members expressing discomfort with the song we sang with a focus on Christ's suffering. To me, the suffering He bore is an important part of the story, but I can see how for some people, it's a glorification of suffering, instead of paying respect to the gift to us.
Is it possible (she asks from the outside) that the balance is off? Yes, that's a critical part of Christian theology, but Jesus had lots of important teachings, too, right? And other important events? If a church's depictions are only of the final hours and not the lifetime preceding them, does it send a message that that other stuff didn't really matter? I don't think that's the message Christians mean to send, but I can totally understand that middle-schooler's confusion.
Oh, sure. It's also possible that since cruxifixion representations are arresting and maybe the preaching/lamb scenes aren't so much (and resurrection of Lazarus may not be blindingly obvious for what they are), those are what new folks notice the most, and think that's what's predominant.
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Is it possible (she asks from the outside) that the balance is off? Yes, that's a critical part of Christian theology, but Jesus had lots of important teachings, too, right? And other important events? If a church's depictions are only of the final hours and not the lifetime preceding them, does it send a message that that other stuff didn't really matter? I don't think that's the message Christians mean to send, but I can totally understand that middle-schooler's confusion.
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