Pick up your Cross
Nowadays, it seems that all it takes to be a Christian is having a bible verse in your bio, being born into a Christian culture or wearing Christian apparel. These things are good, yes, but they don’t make you a Christian. True Christianity is found not on the Cross you wear but on the one you carry.
The Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ time were experts in apparel. They would wear the finest garments while putting on a display of religiosity to portray themselves as God’s anointed. They “outwardly appeared righteous, but inwardly were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt 23:28). The problem with the Pharisees is they spent so much time looking religious for other people they neglected the condition of their heart and failed to “clean the inside of the cup” (Matt 23:26). We aren’t called to look like Christians, we are called to look like Christ.
Christianity isn’t simply a lifestyle of upholding good morals or a gateway to a life of prosperity, it’s an earnest pursuit after the heart of Christ, a daily surrender so that we might look more like him.
“Let your Kingdom come, Let your will be done”.
The first appearance of the term Christian is found in Acts 11:26 after Paul, the same person who caused a massive displacement of Christians in Antioch after persecuting them, came back with Barnabas to preach there. The term “Christian” was likely coined by non-Christian Gentiles, who added the Latin suffix “ian”, meaning “of the party of…” meaning those who imitated or supported some figure. The early Church mainly used words like “disciples”, “saints”, “brothers”, and “followers of the way” to describe themselves; and, to the Gentiles, they were known as “imitators of Christ”. Identified by fruit, not by looks.
Jesus gives us a step-by-step framework we can apply if we desire to follow him:
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt 16:24)
Denial of Self
Denial of self is not the same as self-denial. As William McDonald put it, “The latter means foregoing certain foods, pleasures, or possessions. But denial of self means complete submission to the lordship of Christ. That “self” has no rights or authority at all. It abdicates the throne”. To be his disciple, we must adopt the same attitude Christ had towards The Father: “If you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Lk 22:42)
Jim Elliot wrote: “Father, let me be weak that I might lose my clutch on everything temporal. My life, my reputation, my possessions. Rather open my hand to receive the nail of Calvary, as Christ’s was opened”
A Deliberate Choosing of the Cross
The Cross is a path.
The Roman Crucifixion was one of the most horrific ways the empire would keep conquered populations in check. Convicts usually had to carry a wooden crossbeam along a path to their place of execution. The Cross symbolizes the shame, persecution and abuse that the world heaped on the Son of God. Taking up your Cross is a deliberate choice of a counter-cultural path. One that goes against the tide and in many parts of the world will alienate you and result in persecution. Any believer can avoid this simply by conforming to the world and its ways.
A life spent following Christ
Only then can we follow once we have denied ourselves and picked up our Cross. Denying ourselves is an act of humility that allows us to operate more in God’s grace (James 4:6). The Kingdom of God isn’t a democracy. Only when we surrender in this way can we pick up our Cross and align ourselves to the path God has placed us to walk in. Now that we are on this path, our focus is clear. We see where we are going. – That is towards Christ.
