Cross

Robert C. Shannon
Tweet

The Orthodox Church does not have statues like the Catholic Church, but they do revere holy pictures, or icons. In Russia the most important of these icons was the Virgin of Vladimir. Both Ivan the Terrible and Nicholas II carried it into battle. They believed they could not be defeated if that picture went before their army.

We mean something quite different when we sing "Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, Going on before." Some may not be comfortable with the military motif, but in fact there is a great struggle between good and evil, and we take our place in that struggle only because of the confidence we gained from the cross -- and from the Christ Who died on it.