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Perhaps it is the place the Apostles have given to the cross that inspires these hymns. Verses such as:

Thanks for your selections supporting your hypothesis. They are also the ones which I had in mind when appealing for words to finish that chorus in the hymn. please note that I was not rejecting the hymn--just one phrase. I feel that the hymn leans just a bit toward elevating the object at the expense of the Teacher who accomplished His Saving Work on it. The word "cross" in the passages you chose is a metonomy for the gospel proceeding from the sacrificial murder carried out on it, not the actual object or nminiature symbol of it.

As an observation:

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

The operative referent here is Christ, indicated "by whom," not "by which." Paul glories in the gospel of Christ's ministry leading up to and away from the significant Good Friday event, not the object itself.

The next two verses are seen likewise. The adoration is not toward the torture device itself, but of the news of which its symbolism is attached.

Lastly, Jesus was not asking that we drag around 300-pound piece of wood, nor even a little symbol of it on a neck chain. I believe his disciples certainly did not know yet what the gospel nessage was going to be. No, rather He is figuratively speaking of the persecution that identifying with Him was already bringing, a burden yet light.

The chorus of this hymn strongly suggests to me, and for most literal-minded people, of adoring the cross itself on a par equivalent level with the Savior Himself, and even valuing it as to trade it in for another object, a crown symbolic of nothing else but my own achievements in forwarding His interests. As such, I reject this whole last line, a mistake of the author of overusing poetic license to undercut basic doctrine of applying the Second Commandment:

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me" (Ex. 20:4-5).

Furthermore, I do not have any mistaken artist's image of a long-haired handsome male supposedly representing Jesus in my home, nor of any other heavenly person or object; nor wear or display any other symbolic object to claim affiliation with Him. Rather, My affiliation might be seen by going out and making disciples, should he recognize and bless that occupation.

Neither would I take two objects made by man, let someone place them before me, claim that they are invested or wholly subsumed by Christ's Person and Presence, and bow myself in adoration before them.

But thanks for your concern --

No, I understand fully what you were saying and I agree that the "symbol" of the cross is not to be worshiped or bowed down to and neither should we do so with pictures, statues or any other objects. Our human inclinations always seem to need something tangible to grasp onto. All we need to do today is look around at the rock stars and celebrities wearing all sorts of crosses to know that its symbolism is totally lost to them.

I recall that the Christians in the first century during times of persecution, would recognize each other by drawing the sign of the fish (Ichthys) - one stroking the top outline, the other the bottom outline. It was symbolic of being "fishers of men".

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys:

Historians say the 20th-century use of the ichthys motif is an adaptation based on an Early Christian symbol which included a small cross for the eye or the Greek letters "ΙΧΘΥΣ".

According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes:

…when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hark back to this practice. The symbol is still used today to show that the bearer is a practicing Christian. —Christianity Today, Elesha Coffman, "Ask the Editors"

Of course, there are also stories that the sign of the fish was used in ancient pagan or pre-Christian religious societies. The same can be said of the cross (the "T" or "t") form used today and it IS true that we don't really know for sure the actual shape of the "torture device" that our Savior was hung upon. I've heard it asked if Jesus died in an electric chair, would we have electric chair medals hanging around our throats or on the walls of our churches? Maybe some would. The hymn, The Old Rugged Cross, certainly is a touching and worshipful remembrance of what our Savior endured to redeem us. As you noted about Paul speaking of the cross meaning the message of the gospel and not specifically the cross, is valid. I will still love that old hymn anyway.

We MUST always adore and worship the one to whom ALL glory and honor and praise is due - the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you, friend.