Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Php 2:5)
The cross of Jesus Christ is not a beautiful ornament
on walls or worn on chains. It is an offense (Gal 5:11). It is a daily reality
that every believer is called to. As Dietrich Bonheoffer puts in, ‘When Christ
calls a man, He bids him come and die’. It is dying to one’s selfish expectations
and the like that Christ will be done in and through us. It is never for the
betterment of self, but a decreasing that Christ may increase.
The message of the cross is gravely lacking in churches
because it carries the risk of losing crowds. Jesus wasn't interested in the
majority, but the minority who will lay down their own lives to live out His
will on earth. Jesus life exemplifies the cross, the apostle Paul was the
articulator of the cross. Where are the messengers of the cross today? What has
the pulpit become? Is it about self serving or God serving (Col 3:23)?
Jesus says ‘Follow Me’, not follow after our
heart and its desires or dreams. Our first confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
starts us off with the world behind us and the cross before us. Discipleship
will cost us, but is brings us into a deepening communion and transformation into
His likeness. Are we ambassadors of Christ or ambassadors of self (1 Cor 5:20).
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