An Addendum to "The Cross an Electric Chair?"

          There's a blog sub-genre on The Gospel Coalition known as the FactChecker, where author/speaker Glenn Stanton does well to debunk various misconceptions about history and hermeneutics held by both Christians and non-Christians alike. He tackled a big one recently. As it turns out, St. Francis of Assisi never said the controversial cliche: "Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words."
          But, recently, Stanton tackled the occasional comparison of crucifixion to the electric chair, and I feel it needs an addendum or two.
          Stanton spends the vast majority of his blog rightfully comparing the thoroughly sadistic and barbaric inhumanity of crucifixion to the seeming tame and dignified process of execution by the electric chair (which is now considered cruel and unusual punishment by most). The cross, then, is unprecedented in its ability to represent the sacrifice that Christ made on our behalf.
          Yes, but let's not forget what the symbolism of the cross (and the history thereof) also represent.
          For one, there's the paradox of the idea that someone could reign from a throne of an execution device. This was certainly a hard pill to swallow for any first-century Jew looking for a militant messiah, and it's implausible today as well. While defending the graphic nature of crucifixion, let's not forget the paradoxical and significant "effects" of Christ's crucifixion.
          Secondly, let's not forget that one of the messages in Jesus's exhortation to "take up one's cross" is that a life following him will involve suffering and sacrifice. How would it look, today, if a pastor, using symbolism, compared the Christian earthly life to the path toward the gas chamber, gallows, electric chair, lethal injection, etc.? Doesn't sound like it would fit into a "prosperity gospel" sermon.
          It's, at the very least, slightly (but rightfully) offensive and controversial that the symbol of Christianity, the Gospel, and all hope for the life and peace for humanity is a method of brutal execution. People have not only forgotten the brutality of crucifixion, but arguably its purpose as well. Curiously, the cross (nor any method of execution) was not the symbol of the early Church well-familiar with suffering.
          May we not forget what Christ suffered for us, as Stanton's blog argued. But may we also not forget Christ's glory from His suffering, and how we may need to suffer for Him.