Covenant Presbyterian Church

The essence of Christian discipleship is cross-bearing. Cross-bearing is not stoic acceptance of the creaks and pains of advancing age. It is not bearing the morning drive, doing without because the credit cards are maxed, or trying to please an implacable boss. Such things, great and small, are the common lot of fallen humanity. Cross-bearing is not finding that Starbuck’s has run out of your favorite latte flavor or that someone snatched up the coveted EBay item right before the auction closed. Such trivialization of cross-bearing is exerting a baneful influence upon the church. Something far more pointed and glorious is intended by our Savior’s frequent declarations about bearing the cross.

In his most notable teaching on cross-bearing, the Gospels indicate that it followed Peter’s resistance to Jesus’ announcement of his pending death (Matt. 16:22-24; Mark 8:31-35; Luke 9:20-24). It is evident that Peter thought such an ignominious death beneath the dignity of the Savior, whom he had just confessed as "the Christ, the Son of the living God." In response, Jesus not only rebuked Peter as siding with Satan, which may be a backward reference to Satan’s temptation to Jesus to seize the crown without bearing the cross, but he also pressed the duty of cross-bearing upon all his disciples. Without cross-bearing, we cannot be his disciples. It would appear, then, that cross-bearing is directly related to the humiliation of Christ, his rejection by the world, and his death on the shameful and cursed cross. Applied personally, to bear the cross is to shoulder the shame of our Savior’s death, embrace God’s great war against sin and rebellion, and resist the temptation to seek the easy path. Ours is not a vicarious or propitiatory cross-bearing. Our cross-bearing is following our Savior zealously in his resistance to the world, the flesh, and the devil, making his cross our only boast, and testifying to the world the necessity of faith in a crucified Savior in order to be reconciled to God and escape from the wrath to come.

Cross-bearing presses deeply upon another sinful trait of fallen man. Not only do we, like Peter, prefer to receive the crown without bearing the cross, but we also desire to have salvation on our own terms, with as little personal sacrifice as possible. This is made clear by another declaration of our Savior. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus, he claimed to have kept the law perfectly (Mark 10:20). Jesus saw him far more clearly than he saw himself. In one word, he exposed the idol of his heart: his possessions. You lack one thing, Jesus told him. Sell all you have, give to the poor, take up the cross, and follow me. The man went away sad, for he had great possessions. Our Savior did not mean that wealth is necessarily opposed to cross-bearing, though wealth does pose great temptation to those who possess it. Cross-bearing is opposed to self-sufficiency, selfishness, and love of this world. This passage emphasizes a fundamental feature of cross-bearing. There can be no salvation without it, for cross-bearing is essentially a renunciation of the world’s pleasures and sins in single-hearted, exclusive devotion to Jesus Christ, his shame and sufferings, his ministry of confrontation and reconciliation, and his constant warfare against sin, Satan, and the flesh.

By his entire life our Savior demonstrated the meaning of cross-bearing. His life was essentially and definitively marked by self-denial, a willing renunciation of his rightful claims as the eternal Son of God (Phil. 2:5-8). His lowly birth, life of poverty and suffering, and constant conflict with sin and Satan all indicate the nature of cross-bearing. He would not listen for a moment to Satan’s allurement: the crown without the cross. He rejected the arrogance of his disciples, who regularly parceled out kingdom positions without understanding the humiliation of the cross and the true meaning of discipleship. He fraternized with the sick and afflicted, the maligned and ignored, the religious outcasts - from them he could gain no earthly honor but ever sought only their repentance and restoration to God. He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey - some entrance for the King of glory! And his cross - upon this horrid wooden stake he assumed, embraced, and suffered the deepest shame: man’s rebellion against God. He removed the curse hanging over us for our sins only by bearing the curse, becoming the curse.
Each of these ideas is inseparable from cross-bearing: it is a life of Christ-imitating self-denial, sin-resistance, and consecration to the will of the Father. It is a gospel focused-life that commits and empowers the disciple to endure the reproach of the world and fight against sin and the flesh, all the while rejoicing in the privilege of suffering shame for his name. It is a joyful life, for herein alone do we experience the power of our Savior’s death and resurrection. We bear about in our bodies the death of our Savior so that his life may also be manifested in us (2 Cor. 4:10). His cross is the tree of life; only under its shadow may we again know the life of God in the soul. It is a life that disdains the accolades of the world and the approval of men. It seeks no earthly pomp, idyllic ease, or sacrifice-less faith. Cross-bearing is the life of the disciple of Christ because it is the life of the emptied Christ manifested in those who know and adore him. He became poor for our sake to make us rich in him; we enjoy riches in him though we are poor in the eyes of the world.
For the first three centuries after our Savior’s ascension, cross-bearing was virtually the only life the church knew. She endured the hatred and reproach of the world; by bearing the cross, a multitude of unnamed, largely unheralded, and socially unconnected disciples overcame the malice of men and ferocity of Satan. Dramatic, gospel irony was daily played out in her life, even while she fought against sin within and enemies without. By bearing the cross, she gained the crown. But then the cross was lifted. At the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., the Roman emperor Constantine was visibly moved as the entering presbyters paraded the marks of the cross before his pompous eyes. Missing eyes and limbs, the result of recent persecution, powerfully confronted him. Many of these men bore upon their bodies the marks of Jesus Christ, the sufferings of his cross. Constantine resolved to change permanently the fortunes of the church. We have tended toward cross-aversion ever since. Whatever his motives and personal condition were, a dangerous precedent was set. The church would no longer face the world as cross-bearers but with dignity comparable to and even surpassing that of earthly powers. Throughout the Middle Ages, the many gains and victories of the gospel would be tainted by a growing aversion to suffering for Christ’s sake; instead worldly dominance was sought by the leaders of the church. The cross became a faint memory. The church’s return to cross-bearing required the Reformation, during which a revival of the life of Jesus Christ in his church, and with it willingness to bear his suffering and shame, obtained victory over the chains of Romanism. The world again witnessed the cost of discipleship, the price of truth, and the power of the cross.
The fires kindled by the Reformation are dying out. The dark evidence of this is a general unwillingness to bear the cross. Instead, at least in the west, Christians are again wedded to political agendas, economic prosperity, and a convenient faith. Like the disciples, we are parceling out kingdom honors, i.e., organizational positions, prized pulpits, political power, and the church’s economic resources, instead of cross-bearing. We increasingly rely upon political leaders to enforce our moral agenda. Our literature, how-to seminars, and preferred leaders do not drip with the blood. Instead of splinters and self-denial, we have embraced the slick and sophisticated, the easy solution, the hope of the crown without the cross. And the darkness grows: militant atheism in Europe and strident secularism in the United States. Sadly, their rebellion toward God and hatred of his word is fueled not so much by earnest believers who boast in the cross alone and humbly seek the honor of the Savior, but by hypocritical religious salesmen who substitute Jesus for Coke. Same methods and marketing - little of the cross, less of success, lots of hypocrisy.
Cross-bearing is poised to make a comeback. First, the church in the west faces an enemy that cannot be out-marketed, out-talked, or out-legislated. Secularism aims at nothing less than the eradication of biblical religion. It will gladly tolerate Islam before it will bow the knee to Jesus Christ; the secularists would rather bow to Allah than kiss the Son. This means, second, that pseudo-Christianity will prove itself unable to stem the rapidly rising tide of lawlessness. Rock bands, skits, and "youth-group for adults" are impotent to resist this enemy. The children are in the nursery; Satan is romping throughout the land. Third, the faithful people of God will be forced to make a decision. Will we embrace compromise in order to survive, or will we take up the cross? Will the Chief Shepherd mercifully wake us up in time to shoulder his gospel, its reproach and shame, its divinely appointed power to demolish strongholds? Will Christians cease depending upon political candidates, a bottom-of-the-ninth save, and "seven steps to save the world?" Will we return to Calvary, to the old rugged cross? If we will, the enthroned Savior will again drive his cross into the skull of Satan, crushing him under our feet. But it will be costly.
Cross-bearing means that we must not confuse being a Christian with being an American, or a capitalist, or a devotee of Constitutionalism. It means that the primary battle is not in Washington D.C. or Hollywood. It is in your life and my life. Will we trust that the Lord of hosts will do what he has promised, build the kingdom of his Son, upon the backs of humble disciples of Jesus Christ, who love his gospel, are unmoved by the reproach of the world, and boldly speak the truth in love. It is interesting that we have no record of an apostolic planning session: "Let’s resist this particular legislative action." "Let’s dress up a Mr. Gladiator who will use the Bible instead of a sword." They had one strategy: go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature under heaven. Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Trust the word as God’s power unto salvation. Let us shoulder this cross again. It is far harder than any strategy being suggested today. It requires personal vigilance, regular fellowship with Jesus Christ in the word and prayer, and a mind transformed by the word. Live under the shadow and power of the cross, and God will bring the opportunities to stand for him - with people you see every day, by a life that shines with good works produced by the sanctifying Spirit. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness - expose them. If you are too cozy with the world, your back will grow to soft for cross-bearing. Let us pray that the crucified and resurrected Savior will count us worthy by his grace to carry his cross. It has lost none of its relevance to the same old problems of sinners and none of its power to cleanse. It is still sharp. It will still crush Satan under our feet.