Some misguidedly take away the body. They remove the flag but leave the flagpole. Some have bleached away its bloodstains and covered its gnarled wood with gold and jewels, imagining that they can somehow adorn this wood in a more inspiring way. Our culture has turned the cross into a piece of art, a trinket of jewelry dangling about the neck or hanging from an earlobe, a cultural icon instead of the icon of God's love for sinners. Like the people of Paul's day, people today still clamor for displays of power and glory.
Miracles are a good drawing card.
Do enough of them and you can have your own TV show. We go with whatever works. Success indicates divine approval in our pragmatic, American way of thinking. If it works it must be from God. Never mind the cross, Pastor.