Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 18 Home Page
For instance, the gospel of prosperity that attached itself to Christianity in the 60s and 70s bears no resemblance to the message of the cross. However, millions of Christians have bought into it.
More recently, liberation theology has moved beyond the ranks of the oppressed and into the seminaries. Is this theology more in line with the gospel of Christ? Many would reply that it is. They would say it is evident from reading the Gospels that Jesus came to liberate the oppressed; therefore, following Jesus means taking up the cause of the poor and the oppressed in a systemic way--not through charitable donations but by exposing and resisting the unjust socio-economic systems that oppress the poor and increase the wealth and power of the ruling class.
While there is no question that Jesus did preach a gospel of liberation, it is doubtful whether this message can be interpreted primarily in socio-economic terms. To equate the Christian message with liberation theology is to miss the point of Jesus' words: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24). The call to discipleship is not a call to align ourselves with a particular understanding of Scripture or theological tradition. Rather, it is a call to follow Jesus Christ Himself. The cost of discipleship
Choosing to respond to the call of Christ demands the commitment of our entire life. This is not a commitment that can be made once and for all, but a loyalty and obedience that require daily renewing as we surrender our will to the will of God. If you have never been confronted with the practical implications of following this call, it might be wise to question whether you are really following Christ or only a theology that has been constructed in Christ's stead.
Keeping our focus upon Christ can be difficult. Self-interest often causes us to lose sight of the One who calls us, as we focus on the good news that Jesus brings. However, if we focus on the message apart from Jesus, it is too easy for us to distort the message to serve our own human interests and thus lose the true meaning of the cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship, said we often suppose that grace means "that the account has been paid in advance and because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?" When I first read this question, it took me by surprise. What would grace be if it were not cheap? I asked myself. Isn't this the very essence of grace? Yet for Christians living under the Nazi regime during the 1930s as Bonhoeffer did, grace was not cheap. To accept the call to follow Jesus often meant hiding someone in a basement or attic and, if caught, death in the gas chambers. Grace was costly. It is still costly today in the sacrifice it requires of us.
Not my will
What is this sacrifice that must be made to follow Jesus? The answer is found in Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane: "If it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39). Notice that Jesus does not indicate a desire to submit Himself to the cross. If this was His desire, we might interpret His death as suicide. But Jesus did not commit suicide. He didn't choose to die. Rather, He chose to submit Himself to the Father, even though this meant dying on our behalf. Discipleship implies a willingness to submit ourselves to Christ, to follow Him even though it may cost us the most important thing in life, even though it may cost us life itself.
And it will cost us. When we say the words of the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done", how often do we realize that we are praying what Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane? The prayer that Jesus asks us to pray requires us to submit every area of our life to the lordship of Christ--our goals, our desires, our hopes, our careers, our relationships with others. Whatever in life is most important to us is precisely what Christ wants us to submit to Him. We must give these things up for His sake--not because these things are wrong in themselves, but simply because Christ wants to be the Lord of our life, and if Christ is Lord, then we can serve no other master.
The crucified Christ
If taking up the cross means being ready to sacrifice our most important goal in life, what can be the motivation for choosing to follow Jesus? The answer can lie only with Jesus Christ Himself, who loved us so much He gave everything for us, even his own life. The implications of such love are so radical they shatter every human assumption. That God Himself should condescend to become a man is mind-boggling. For Him to become not just any man but one despised and rejected by the very ones He came to redeem, violates any human standard of reason or moral judgement. But this is what the love of God is. It not only extends far beyond what we can comprehend; it also compels us to redefine the meaning of success, happiness, power and wealth.
When we focus on the cross of Christ, our moral values also come under scrutiny--the assumptions we hold regarding purity, perfection, holiness, even godliness. It is not that these moral standards are no longer relevant, but that we must recognize our own sinful tendency to define these values in self-serving ways. Apart from an intimate knowledge of the crucified Christ, it is questionable whether we can be certain regarding any of our moral convictions.
This is not a defence of moral relativism, but a call to continually re-evaluate our lives in view of the cross of Jesus Christ. This re-evaluation will include not only our lifestyles and practices, but also our ways of thinking--the assumptions we may have regarding those who do not share our faith, and the prejudices we often hold toward those of our own faith who do not believe exactly as we do. The cross of Christ is not a weapon meant to destroy, but a reminder of ~the crucified One. Only as we come into contact with the living Christ on a daily basis can we know the meaning of truth, justice, holiness and godliness.
The call to discipleship is not an invitation to adopt a certain set of beliefs, much less a call to defend our own faith tradition. Without a doubt, the content of faith is worth defending; however, underlying both our faith and our practice must be a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, and a decision to follow Him regardless of where He leads.
The cross is not beautiful or inspiring. If taking up the cross and following Jesus means wanting for our lives what God wants, the task is impossible. Who can be completely committed to One who does not specify in advance what may be required, but simply says "Come, follow Me"? Yet this is what Jesus calls us to do. Bonhoeffer writes, "When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die." Responding to this invitation in our own strength is impossible. But as we focus on Jesus bearing the agony of the cross for us, we may find the grace and courage to accept this high calling.
Shirley Isaac is an instructor at Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, Sask.
Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 18 Home Page