I agree that the money spent on this could and should have been used elsewhere, but in their defense, Solid Rock does do a buttload of charity and outreach stuff. They're one of those filthy rich churches that does give tons of money here and there (according to my uncle, who attends there) and still has money left over to throw around. So it isn't like they AREN'T giving to the needy and doing what the bible asks of them, they just have extra money to build big cool buttery football Jesuses. In that regard they're doing nothing wrong. It's my guess, but I'd assume they give tens of thousands of dollars plus every month.
And I'll add this to that... if you have a problem with Solid Rock Church's statue and how it spends it's money... what's's that got to do with Organized Religion? My church is organized just the same but we don't horde a dime... including pastors getting smaller pay checks, a children's pastor actually working for free, etc. What they do have extra we usually donate or put toward needy families, the elderly, other ministries to help people, etc. Most churches I now are like this. In fact with the exception of the majority of senior pastors, every other pastor I know of (and I know a lot) have to work a second job to make ends meet so that the funds brought in by the church can go to the community and outreach and such. That's why most christians I know do look at football Jesus as a bit of a joke. It's cool and all, but still silly at the same time.
Also, as far as the idols thing... the bible says not to create idols to worship. They do not worship the statue, it's just a statue. They worship Jesus Christ Himself. There's nothing unbiblical in this regard. Now if people were bowing before the statue worshiping it and waiting for it to speak or something, like if the statue itself were God and not just a statue of God, then it'd be an issue.
