Overnight last night an icon of the American highway was destroyed. The King of Kings statue that laid between Cincinnati and Dayton off of I-75 was burned to the ground by a lighting strike. Local Video New Report
I never knew the name of the statue. I always refereed to it as the Jesus doing the “H” in the Ohio State Buckeye chant O-H-I-O. Numerous pictures were taken with the huge 60ft Jesus in that pose among others; maybe more mockingly than out of reverence. I’m okay with that. I don’t think people were mocking Jesus as much as they were mocking the grand ill-splendor and the fact that Christians would erect such a structure to represent the God-man who was homeless, poor, and died a criminals death.
Heywood Banks described the King of Kings statue this way:
“In southern Ohio, just north of Cincinnati
I beheld a vision, next to the expressway.
Was a 60 foot jesus, with his hands in the air
looks like he’s carved out of butter,
just like at the state fair.
Big butter Jesus
Sweet cream Jesus
Oh country fresh Jesus
Unsalted Jesus
Oh Promise Jesus
Imperial Jesus
Can’t believe it’s not Jesus
Oleo Lord.”
Heywood Banks Performing “Big Butter Jesus”
I learned today that the statue originally cost between $250 and $500 thousand and that it will cost somewhere around $750,000 to replace it. Oh Jesus!
Some people are calling the destruction of the statue a sign. Others dismiss it as coincidence. The fact is, that it has happened and it must mean something. I heard today that the church plans to rebuild the statue. I think that would be a mistake. What could be done with all the money that will be used to rebuild it? How many homeless could be fed? How many children could be freed from the sex trade? How many (you fill in the blank)?
The bottom line is that whatever the church decides to do, outsiders and onlookers will make meaning out of their decision. Maybe the best thing to do is to contact the church and let them know what you think should be done, in a respectful tone of course. The church’s website is: http://www.solidrockchurch.org/
It’s time to build something more lasting than a touchdown Jesus. We need to start building stuff that has eternal value. Think about it.