Carrying the Cross

Many times in the Gospels, Jesus mentions the word "cross". This does not refer to the wooden cross he carried for our salvation. In fact, wherever he mentioned the word "cross", he was referring to the cross that we, as disciples, should carry. It is, in fact, this cross and its bearing that marks us as his true disciples. Let's study this statement from God's Word:

Matthew 16:23-25
But Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for your thoughts are not God's thoughts, but those of men. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Matthew 10:33-39
"But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to divide a man from his father, a daughter from her mother, a daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who keeps his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it."

2 Timothy 3:12
"Now all those who want to live godly in Jesus Christ will be persecuted."

Looking at the quotes above, we can see that following Christ can bring us into disagreement with society, with those with whom we are familiar - even with our parents or children. Unpleasant as it may be, it is Christ we must follow. In fact, no man can be Christ's disciple unless he has taken up his cross, accepting and bearing the consequences of his Christianity.

It is especially important to pay attention to these words and make an important decision in our hearts to follow Christ and the Word of God, whatever the cost and regardless of what men, their philosophies and theories may teach. It may not be pleasant for the flesh to do so. We all want to be accepted by everyone, but sometimes this is not possible, as it would mean compromising between God and his Word. We must not go back and withdraw in such cases, but carry our cross resting on our faith. What is stronger? What is more valid? Men, their theories and opinions, or the Word of God? Men's theories come and go, but God's Word remains forever. Let me give you an example: in our time and in our "Christian societies", most people who are not Christians believe that the world came from nothing and evolved on its own. Does the Word of God support this argument? A review of the opening chapters of Genesis shows that this is not so. It was God who created all things. Hebrews sums it up as follows:

Hebrews 11:3
"It is by faith that we recognize that the universe was formed by the word of God, so that what we see was not made of visible things."

What the world says (theory of evolution) is opposed to what the Word of God says. What should we do as Christians? It's very simple: we believe in God's Word! If God says something, then we believe it! The key word here is "believe", "through faith" as Hebrews declares. Does God's Word say that? If so, we believe it, without paying attention to what the people around us are saying, even if we look ridiculous according to their beliefs. As R.T. Kendal declares:

"Every generation of Christianity bears its stigma, by which the believer's faith is severely tested. For example, in the first generation of the church, this concerned the argument in favor of Jesus of Nazareth appearing, as being the complement of the Old Testament. This was particularly the stigma that the Jews accepted when faced with the establishment that confirmed Temple worship. At the end of the first century, the important question was whom to pray to: Christ or Caesar....In Luther's day, the debate was whether an individual was justified by his faith or by his works. These are just a few examples...for I could go on and on. The most ardently debated question in any age concerns what is true, but what also makes the minority appear foolish and causes the believer to be perceived as insane" (R. T. Kendal, Believing God, Authentic classics. )

What would have happened if we had had to uphold salvation by grace in Luther's day? We would have been called fools and perhaps lost our lives. But there too, we would have stood up for what God's Word says, bearing the cross and accepting the stigma. What I want to say in this article is simple: carry your cross. Believe in God's Word 100 %. Accept it as the only authority governing your life. Don't water down the message to make it conform to what society declares. Don't abandon what God says in His Word in order to gain the acceptance of others. Many Christians have done this. Many Christians, when they came to the Creation versus evolution debate, for example - one of the most debated issues of our time, perhaps the most debated, which makes the believer look like a fool - chose to dilute the message and compromise their faith. They want to believe in evolution as well as in God's creation. But that's not what God's Word teaches. You don't have to prove something in order to believe it. You have to find it in God's Word. Does the Word say that? If so, believe it. If not, don't believe it, regardless of what others - we'll call them "experts" - may say. It's a child like faith, and it's about what pleases the Father.

Below are other passages that help us see that being a disciple of Jesus Christ does not mean accepting the possibility of being persecuted for our faith. They also show us what we need to do:

2 Timothy 3:12
"Now all those who want to live godly in Jesus Christ will be persecuted."

2 Timothy 4:2-4
"Preach the word, insist on every occasion, favorable or unfavorable, rebuke, censure, exhort, with all gentleness and instructing. For there will come a time when men will not endure sound doctrine; but, itching to hear pleasant things, they will give themselves a host of teachers according to their own desires, turn away their ears from the truth, and turn to fables...

John 17:14
"I gave them your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world."

1 Thessalonians 3:3
"That no one may be shaken in the midst of present afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are destined for this."

Shalom!

Pasteur Clémentine