I am often curious about the message I see on television that tells me Christ has died so that I might be rich in this life. Jesus has called me to take up a cross and follow but the guy on T.V. is telling me to take up a scepter and sit down on a throne…that Christ has conquered and I can now cash in!
I am tempted to think he knows what he is talking about. He wears a nice suit…he is eloquent as he peers into the camera almost as if he is talking straight to me. He’s got to be right…he seems so successful…so together…that is surely what Godly people would look like…They seem to say, Christ may have appeared weak…may have had to look foolish…may have had to be humiliated but not you…you are a victorious Christian…
And then there’s Paul who says: "...and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things." (I Corinthians 4:12-13)
So who is wrong? Surely they both can’t be speaking the truth. One is the view that says the cross was a long time ago as though today we walk upright and proud because Jesus died to make us so….to make us kings…to make us rich…to give us dignity.
The other is a call to be undignified…to be broken-hearted…to be obedient…to be just like Jesus in every respect and like Him carry our cross so that the world may know the truth of the gospel.
I'll follow Paul as He follows Christ.