Karoline Leavitt, Pam Bondi and the Costly Evangelism of the Cross Necklace

According to Tuesday’s New York Times, the cross necklace is “a hot accessory” that currently resides “at the intersection of faith and culture.”

Historians suggest the practice of wearing a cross as a pendant around the neck dates back to the second century.

Tertullian, a Christian theologian who lived during that same period, called believers in Jesus “devotees of the cross.” That reference is said to have inspired early Christians to embrace and redeem the symbol Roman officials had associated with torturous death, even wearing it to connect with fellow believers and talk about their countercultural faith with others.

Cross necklaces have long been made with various materials ranging from simple wood to precious metals and gemstones.

“As a millenniums-old symbol of Christian faith, the cross would seem somewhat immune to trendiness,” writes Misty White Sidell in the Times. “But cross necklaces and pendants have been in vogue before and may be again as some feel more comfortable embracing their faith and seek community with others.”

The Old Grey Lady points out that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Attorney General Pam Bondi are two high-profile women within the Trump administration who regularly wear a visible cross.

In a statement provided to the Times, Leavitt explained, “My faith is very important to me. It is what gets me through each day.”

Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Representative and Democrat leader in the House, was spotted wearing a cross necklace during last weekend’s budget protest. Sidell notes that Rep. Jeffries grew up serving as an usher at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

That members on both sides of the aisle are wearing crosses inevitably mutes any of the traditional partisan criticism.

Back in 2023, Michael Coan, associate professor of jewelry design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, suggested in an interview that crosses can be for everyone. 

“If you have Jesus on it, it becomes a crucifix,” he said. “That’s a different story. For some people, it can mean redemption from suffering. To pagans, it can mean the four directions. It can represent elements of fire, water, earth and air. It’s a symbol that resonates on a global plane.”

While Professor Coan is correct that Christ being on a cross makes it a crucifix, something Catholics often display, evangelical believers feature and wear an empty cross as a symbol of Christ’s victory over death.

It’s true that different people can interpret the cross differently, but Christians can feel comfortable wearing a cross and allowing it to trigger productive and faith-filled conversations.

But it’s one thing to wear a cross and a whole other thing to live a life that rightly reflects its profound meaning and charge to us as followers of Christ.

John Stott, the late Anglican pastor and theologian, rightly observed, “The cross calls us to a much more radical and costly kind of evangelism than most churches have begun to consider.”

Costly evangelism means that as believers who stand up for Christ, we should be willing to lose our reputation, sacrifice our comforts and resources, and even be at odds with significant cultural majorities. It means to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). 

Good for Karoline Leavitt, Attorney General Bondi and anyone else who unapologetically wears a cross, not for the sake of making a fashion statement, but instead as a proclamation of their Christian faith and an invitation to others to join them on the greatest adventure from here to eternity.  

Image from Getty.