Imagine the excitement that must have been buzzing after Jesus fed the five thousand. People were saying that he was a prophet. The disciples confessed him to be the Christ, God’s Anointed, the coming King, the one who would rule the nations with a rod of iron (Ps 2). The movement was growing. They had momentum. Jesus had given his disciples his authority over demons and disease. People were responding. Thousands had just gathered to hear the kingdom of God preached, be healed, and then were miraculously fed. Evangelistic success!
Now imagine the buzz-kill when Jesus calls all those who follow him to deny themselves and take up their crosses daily. The cross wasn’t an adored piece of art as it is today. The beauty of the cross is a distant future to the crowds who were hearing Jesus’ call. The cross was the shameful, painful fate of all those who dared defy the power of Rome. If a man was crucified, not only did he lose his own life, his whole estate was taken from him so that he left nothing for his family. The cross was the loss of everything.
Jesus has a good thing going. Why kill it by bringing up self-denial and the cross? Because the aim is to make disciples, not groupies.
Jesus welcomes all who desire to follow him, but they must follow him, taking the journey that he took that leads to and through the cross. If a person is not willing to do that, then he cannot be a disciple of Jesus. And only the disciples of Christ get the eternal “goodies.”
Taking up your cross is not about going through hardship. Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. (Job 14.1) Since the fall, all men endure difficulties and suffering in life. Taking up the cross is a deliberate action, not something thrust upon you outside of your control. Taking up the cross means willingly laying down your life for the sake of Christ; it is denying yourself, giving up everything. While you may retain spouse, possessions, or position in society, all of those are re-cast in the context of our kingdom mission. Of course, it may also mean that you will lose some or all of what you had before conversion. Everyone gives up everything to Christ, but that doesn’t look the same for everyone.
The call to self-denial and taking up the cross eventually thins the crowds. Many people love all the benefits of the kingdom, but they don’t want to take up the way of the kingdom.
In our own desire for people to come to Christ, we must be careful to proclaim a faithful kingdom gospel; a gospel that includes self-denial and a cruciform life. Anything less is not the gospel of Christ. While we must be winsome and not neglect the eternal benefits of being a disciple of Jesus, we must also not leave people with the impression that Jesus can simply be added to their lives to complete them. Jesus isn’t “the missing piece” to their lives. Jesus calls for the complete destruction of their old lives. (Lk 9.24) Everything must go. All of their ways of thinking about everything. Everything they have, think, and are must be re-purposed for the sake of the kingdom.
Self-fulfillment in my job or my marriage is not the goal. The kingdom is. Pursuit of self-fulfillment must be destroyed in the way they were thinking of it. Pursuit of riches isn’t the goal. My pursuits are determined by and are investments in the kingdom. The goal of being rich must be destroyed in the way I have thought about it. My children are not mine but belong to Jesus. I must deny and destroy my ownership of them, acknowledging the ownership of the King. My house is not mine but belongs to the King. Immediate pleasure and pain-free living are not my goals. I must be willing to endure the pain and suffering of cruciform living in whatever form it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. I must be willing to join with Jesus in the shame of the cross. If I am not willing to do this, then I cannot be a disciple of Jesus.
The King has commissioned us, not to have as our primary goal to increase numbers but to make disciples. He will take care of the numbers as we are faithful to the mission.
The call to take up the cross is not one of endless pain and suffering. The story of the cross doesn’t end that way. There is a joy that is set before us so that we might endure our cruciform lives in hope. The story of the cross ends in resurrection.
If we destroy our lives for the sake of Christ and his kingdom in the way that he calls us to do, then all of those things we seek—fulfillment, riches, family, possessions, pleasure—will all be ours in abundance on the other side. The journey of following Christ must include the cross for everyone, and that must be clear. But it must be just as clear that the way of the cross ends in the fullness of life.
