Only the New York Times could spot a cross and confuse it for a fashion trend.
Christians have been wearing the most important symbol of their faith — the crucifix — for more than a thousand years. But if you read the New York Times last week, you might think that adorning the historic symbol is a resurgent fashion trend.
What is going on here?
In a story titled “A Hot Accessory, at the Intersection of Faith and Culture,” writer Misty Sidell observes that “cross necklaces are popping up everywhere,” because government officials, influencers, and celebrities are wearing them. The story treats the apparent resurgence of the cross necklace as a groundbreaking revelation, leading readers to wonder: Did the New York Times finally discover Christianity?
Unless you’ve lived under a rock — or only in elitist circles — the bizarre premise of the story is obvious because Christians everywhere have always worn cross necklaces. This isn’t new.
‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’
Not only are cross necklaces not new, but they’re not a mere fashion accessory or trendy object. Christians wear them because they symbolize something important: the sacrifice, redemption, and radical love that God displayed through Jesus Christ on the cross.
In other words: Cross necklaces do not need a sociological explanation in the “Style” section of the New York Times.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the “news story” is that it never seriously considers the obvious reason why Christians wear cross necklaces, beyond a vague comment about “faith.” The suggestion, therefore, that cross necklaces are now suddenly “in vogue” because they’re cool (or something?) demonstrates not only a misunderstanding of fashion history but of Christian faith.
Isn’t it obvious?
Here’s the truth: Christians wear cross necklaces because they are Christian. No fancy explanation needed.
But that doesn’t stop Sidell from straining credulity as she attempts to discover an eccentric reason for the supposed rise in cross necklace wearers.
For example, Sidell claims the “cultural meaning” of cross necklaces “can be harder to define as the symbol now seems to vary in interpretation across geography, church affiliation and even — to a growing extent — political value systems.” She even quotes a theologian, Robert Covolo, who claims that “people bring their own meaning” to the cross, “which is where symbols really get their power.”
And, of course, Sidell draws a connection to the Trump administration:
The Trump administration has welcomed religion into the West Wing with the establishment of a new White House Faith Office. In recent months, pastors with Christian nationalist beliefs have been invited to the White House numerous times.
Cross necklaces have, in a way, become the jewelry of choice most associated with President Trump’s second administration.
The real story here isn’t that cross necklaces are suddenly making a fashion comeback.
The real story is that one of the biggest newspapers in the world is apparently surprised that the cross has enduring significance and found it necessary to use fashion as the angle to make sense of it.
It’s a wasted opportunity that amounts to journalistic malpractice.
Instead of treating cross necklaces as a fashion trend, the New York Times could have investigated why the decline of Christianity in America has plateaued. That would have made for a much more interesting story in the context of a supposed rise in cross necklace wearers.
Paul’s prescient message
This “story” is yet another example proving why we cannot trust the legacy media to cover Christianity.
Instead of taking serious the deep and rich meaning behind the cross as a symbol and why Christians proudly wear them, the New York Times reduces cross necklaces to an aesthetic trend that is all about the “vibes.” It’s the true and time-tested way the legacy media covers Christianity: through mockery, ridicule, condemnation, and a refusal to understand.
If you could ask the apostle Paul, he might even suggest the legacy media’s inability to understand Christianity — as this New York Times story demonstrates — is evidence of the media’s godlessness.
Paul wrote, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Clearly, the cross is still foolishness to those who don’t understand it.
That’s the great irony of this story: What looks like a jewelry fashion trend to the New York Times (i.e., “those who are perishing”) is, for Christians, the symbol of God’s salvific power.
It’s not a trend. It’s eternal.
Christians adorn themselves with the cross to remember their crucified savior, the risen Christ, and to declare without shame their allegiance to Christ, an obedience that cannot be broken — no matter how much the world mocks or misunderstands.
The cross isn’t “style” — but a scandal and a signpost to the greatest story the world has ever known.
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