(Last month we opened a new series, a monthly post on how Jesus defines his requires for disciples. We call it “The Challenge Series, and as usual, Jesus begins with the most difficult.)
Many of us feel pulled in numerous directions. Family members and friends and bosses make requests and demands. More come from spiritual concerns, while our own desires call to us, to relax, succeed. We try to juggle them but drop as many as we catch. Then Jesus made it more difficult with an impossible demand, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27).
A symbol of death, crucifixion saw few survivors, and that certainly applied to Jesus, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22). Then he gave a slightly different version of the Luke 14 verse in 9:23, “…he must deny himself and take us his cross daily and follow me.”
OK, I’m confused. How can we physically die every day? Perhaps our cross isn’t physically hanging on a cross, we could only do that once. Taking his cross for Jesus literally meant serving God and people on an actual wood cross and dying. For us, our cross means that we deny ourselves (pleasing ourselves, getting what we want) and commit to serve God and people as the unifying priorities of our lives.
Or, our cross represents God’s mission for us. Yes, that will vary for each person, based on our SHAPE: Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personalities, Experiences. Sometimes we struggle to figure out God’s mission for us, what our gifts are. I suspect if we commit to serving him, we’ll use all of those. The greatest struggle usually comes from not being willing to give God that level of control.
But complacent faith works against that, when we stress grace so much that we ignore obedience—or taking our cross and following his example. We serve, when convenient. We give, when we can afford it. We…well, you can fill in the blanks for your own life.
Remember, Jesus said we must do this to follow. Yes, we have grace and forgiveness. Yes, we all fail. But let’s do this as an essential target in following him.
Another obstacle comes from a line from an earlier book: “I’m convinced that self-will is our greatest barrier to knowing God.” I still believe that. The essence of faith is giving our full allegiance to God, and acknowledging our failures. We strive to deny our way of doing life, and follow his.
For me, like Jesus said, I need to re-affirm this daily. I get so caught up in life that my best intentions are denied as much as overlooked. I just hung the cross in my study in a more prominent place to remind me to take up my cross each day. That’s the pic.
Kick Starting the Application
Where are you on the spectrum of following Jesus and taking up your cross? Do you need to change? What’s your next step?