Austin, Texas just spent two years and $1.1 million to unveil a new city logo — one that conveniently erased the cross. Officials claim the new Austin Logo reflects “community values.” But I have to ask: what values, exactly?
Featured Snippet Takeaway: The Austin Logo redesign cost $1.1 million and removed the cross, showing how “community values” drift when not rooted in Scripture.
City Manager T.C. Broadnax defended the rebrand as a way to unify Austin’s departments under one identity. The breakdown of the cost included over $600,000 for branding vendors, $115,000 for a public awareness campaign, and nearly $200,000 for staffing and legal support. After all that time and money, residents are mocking the new design as looking more like a “homeless tent” than a symbol of community pride. You can read more at KXAN’s coverage of the Austin Logo redesign.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Leaders tell us this new design reflects the values of the community — but no one ever seems willing to define those values. And that’s the problem. When you cut God out of the picture, “values” become a moving target. They’re not rooted in truth. They shift with whatever culture happens to want at the time.
What Are “Community Values” Without God?
When I hear officials talk about reflecting “community values,” I can’t help but ask: whose values? Based on what? If not the Bible, then it’s just human opinion dressed up as morality. That’s the danger of trying to build unity apart from God’s Word.
Our country was founded on Christian values. That doesn’t mean every founder was a perfect Christian — far from it. But it does mean the moral framework of America was undeniably biblical. The Ten Commandments shaped our laws. The idea of equality before God shaped our Constitution. Even the freedom of religion presupposed there was such a thing as absolute truth.
This is what originally gave the “melting pot” strength. Immigrants didn’t come here to erase the foundation. They came to thrive within it. They adapted into a nation already built on biblical values. The “melting” happened around a common center — and that center was Scripture.
But today’s melting pot has shifted. Instead of blending into one shared moral framework, we’ve become a stew of conflicting beliefs. Every worldview is treated as equal — except biblical Christianity, which is pushed aside as offensive or outdated. And when everything is considered truth, nothing is truth. That’s how a city can spend over a million dollars to replace a cross with a symbol that points to nothing in particular.
The Drift Toward Godless Unity
This drift isn’t random. The Bible warned us it would happen. Judges 21:25 describes ancient Israel this way: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Doesn’t that sound like our culture today? Everyone’s truth is their own. No one can be questioned. And when you try to raise Scripture as the standard, you’re told that you’re the problem.
But Scripture doesn’t just describe this in the past tense — it prophesies about the future. Revelation 17:13 says that in the end times, the leaders of the earth will be “of one mind” and give their power to the Beast. That’s not unity in Christ. That’s a counterfeit oneness, built on rebellion against God.
We see the foreshadowing already. Whether it’s politics, media, education, or yes, even city logos, the world is moving toward a singleness of thought that excludes Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 warns that God will allow a “strong delusion” so that people will believe what is false. That’s not a description of a far-off future — it’s the trajectory of our present culture.
So when I see Austin pour $1.1 million into a logo that intentionally removes the cross, I don’t just see bad spending. I see a glimpse of the bigger picture: a world uniting around values that have nothing to do with God.
The True Foundation of Morality
I’ve lived long enough to know what happens when you try to build your life on cultural values. I once followed what the world told me was true, and it only left me empty. I chased affirmation, belonging, and pleasure in all the wrong places. And the result was brokenness — until I turned back to Christ.
That’s why I can say with certainty: the Bible isn’t just one option among many. It’s the only foundation that actually holds. Values apart from Scripture will always collapse. They may sound nice on paper — tolerance, inclusion, community — but without God’s truth, they crumble into confusion.
Austin can spend millions trying to redefine its identity, but no amount of branding can create real unity. Logos and slogans don’t hold societies together. God’s Word does. Psalm 2 reminds us that the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain against the Lord, but His truth stands unshaken.
Why This Matters for Christians
For believers, stories like this aren’t reasons to despair — they’re reminders to stay awake. Jesus told us the world would drift this way. Revelation paints a picture of where it’s headed. But the point of prophecy isn’t to scare us; it’s to steady us.
When I look at the Austin Logo, I don’t just see a bad design. I see a warning: this is what happens when a culture tries to build values without God. And it makes me more determined to live by His Word, not by whatever the world tells me today.
On the cultural front, I recently wrote about how politics redefined gender dysphoria, showing how moral confusion spreads when leaders shape truth to fit agendas. On the faith side, I explained why voting biblical values in Congress matters if we want to stand on God’s Word rather than shifting cultural values. Both show why the Austin logo story isn’t an isolated event — it’s part of a bigger trend.
The cross may be erased from a city logo, but it will never be erased from history. It will never be erased from the hearts of those who belong to Christ. And one day, every knee will bow before Him — no matter what symbols cities and nations design in the meantime.
Arch Kennedy
Bold, Unfiltered, and Unafraid
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