By Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer
Of the Seventy
All of us have passed by churches that have a cross on their steeples or cupolas, and we've all seen people wearing a necklace with a cross, indicating they are Christian or a member of a certain Christian denomination. Some of our new members may even continue to wear a cross, feeling that it connects them with their past or other religious traditions.
We may wonder why we Latter-day Saints don't place a cross on our churches or wear a cross to show that we are Christians, thereby making it easier for others to identify in whom we believe. Is the cross important to our faith?
The answer is an unequivocal yes! The Redeemer's suffering on the cross is vitally important to us and is an inseparable part of the Atonement, through which He suffered and died for our sins and thereby provided us with a clear path to salvation and exaltation. The Savior was clear when He stated that in following Him we should take upon ourselves a cross—not the Roman cross that was the instrument of death but our own cross, whereby we present a sacrifice to the Lord of our own heart to be obedient to His commandments.
"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me," Jesus said, "is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38).
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul indicated that the "preaching of the cross … is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). We understand through this scripture that the meaning of the cross is much deeper than just a symbol or outward sign, especially for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the preaching of what happened on the cross that is more important than the symbol of the cross.