The Meaning of Our Logo

In 2004 we created a new logo because we wanted to communicate four things more clearly:

1. Christ

The logo is a Christian symbol. We at Desiring God are Christians. The previous logo was not distinctively Christian, unless you discerned in the three golden bars a subtle pointer to the Trinity. Ever since 9-11 and the upsurge of Islamic awareness, and the more manifest religious pluralism of the world, we have wanted to be more openly clear that, when we say “God,” we don’t mean Allah, we mean Jesus Christ. Our name is Desiring God, that is, God the Son, Jesus Christ. We worship Jesus Christ. We bow down with Thomas and say to the risen Christ, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Therefore we have chosen an explicitly Christian symbol, the cross.

2. Cross

The logo has a cross at the center. The symbol of the cross does more than make an explicit statement that we are followers of Christ. It also marks the most important thing Christ did and the most important event in history. We did not choose an incidental symbol of Christianity, but the central one. We believe profoundly in the resurrection and the living person and power of Christ today. But the resurrection is glorious because it vindicates the great finished work of salvation that happened on the cross. Moreover the cross signifies suffering. At Desiring God we believe we are called to follow Jesus in suffering. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The cross reminds us always that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him in the midst of suffering. Our banner text is “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). We pray that the cross always keeps us from trivializing joy. “For the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).

3. What happened at the cross

The logo is blood red. What happened on the cross has power because Christ shed his blood and died there. “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9). Our passion at Desiring God is to glorify God by enjoying him above all other things, including life itself. “Your steadfast love is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). The blood-shedding of Jesus bought for us all our enjoyment of God. We would only reject him if Christ had not purchased the new covenant promises of transforming grace that saved us and gave us new eyes to see the all-satisfying glory of Christ. All our joy is owing to the blood of Christ.

4. Pointing to the cross and Christ

The logo is composed of four arrows that point to the cross. This is our strategy. Our mission is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. To do this we must relentlessly point people to Christ. He is the ground and the goal of all our joy. There is no way that we can fulfill our mission apart from pointing people to “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). When the Bible commands us to rejoice, it says, “Rejoice in the Lord” (Philippians 4:4). To rejoice in him—through all the sufferings of life—we must see him for who he really is. Pointing to his magnificence is the heart of our mission.

Why are called “Desiring God” instead of “Desiring God Ministries”

Along with creating our new logo in 2004, we also dropped the word “ministries” from our name so that we could say, more simply and accurately,