The Cross is radical. It requires everything. It means that you and I leave nothing behind. The Cross requires a total commitment to the Grace Giver.
The Cross is radical. It requires everything. It means that you and I leave nothing behind. The Cross requires a total commitment to the Grace Giver.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Being a Christian is easy. We learn in church or Sunday school that all we have to do is obey God’s Word and live happily ever after. Most of us are really good Christians on Sunday. Many of us are really good at lying. I’m tired of living the Christian lie! I’m tired of being an ordinary man! I’m tired of being another pastor like every other pastor! I want to be extraordinary! Radical! I want to follow my Christ with all my energy, my life, my breath – everything!
The Cross is radical! The Cross requires that you and I deny ourselves. That means that we set aside our ambitions, our dreams, ourselves, our today, and our tomorrows to follow after Jesus Christ. Following Christ is not the easy, pie-in-the-sky dream that we make it. Following Christ means ridicule. It means alienation. It means that we set aside the form and formality of Christianity to embrace the freedom that is found in being a disciple who is totally committed to the Rabbi. It means that we walk so close to the Rabbi that we get His dust on us. It means that we get so close to the Rabbi that we are hanging out of His shirt pocket.
Christianity is a radical thing! It is not what we have made it. We’ve watered it down! We’ve made it a household item. Our churches across the world have made it that. I have made it that. How often do we hear the radical commitment of the Cross preached in our pulpits? How often do we find God’s messengers standing up on Sundays – whether it is in a class room or a sanctuary – and challenge the congregation to take up the Cross and follow Jesus? Sadly, all too often, we (I’m speaking of us preachers) fail to challenge the person in the pew. Hey! The Cross is radical. You may not like that thought, but it is a reality. The Cross demands everything. Christ demands everything. We are no use to Jesus Christ if we are constantly looking back longingly for the life we once knew. We are not totally committed if we are unwilling to set aside ourselves in the pursuit of Christ.
Look, let me put this as directly as I can. The Cross means that we die to self. That means that you and I are no longer alive. It means that you and I have to make a decision. Frankly, you and I have been living a lie. We give a little and think its all we have to give. Let me illustrate this, in college soccer practice our coach had us do this wonderful conditioning drill called “Ends.” It required that we (the team) collectively sprint the entire length of the field in 30 seconds, take a 15 second breather, and then sprint back in 25 seconds. After a short 30 second break, we did it again. Coach said we had 7 to do, but he would only make us do 4 if all of us made it back across the line in the allotted time. One and two were ok. Three was a struggle. Half of four was barely making it. There was no way I was going to finish the last half. The team was going to hate me. That’s when Pete came running up next to me. Pete and I finished notably ahead of the team. That’s because Pete knew there was more inside than I knew. There’s always more to give. It might take a friend to show you that there’s more, but there’s always more.
It’s time we stopped giving Christ the “left overs” and the “almost coulds” It’s time that we embrace the radical Cross and follow the Christ who embraced our Cross so that we could find freedom. It’s time to stop playing Christian and actually be the follower of Christ that He demands we be. Radical commitment to the Cross is going to require a change in focus. Radical commitment to the Cross is going to require everything you have to give. Not just what you think you have to give, but everything you have to give. It is going to demand that you stop playing in the world’s sand box and start standing out as someone who follows God. Hey, if you want to keep playing in the world’s sand box, go ahead; but that’s where the cat goes for his litter box. Who cares if everyone else is playing along, God wants you to be radically different. He demands that you be radically committed to Him. Stop playing Christian and start being a Christian. A radical, Cross bearing Christian!
