Take up your cross and follow me

One of the strongest sayings of Our Lord Jesus Christ is, “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.'” It comes from the Gospel according to Saint Luke 9:23-25.

This saying, along with many others, has inspired generations of monastics, as well as generations of martyrs, confessors, and plain old folk like you and me. This is one of the sayings that calls us to be willing to fast and to pray. It is one of the sayings that helps calls us to offer a sacrifice of praise, regardless of our circumstances. Frankly, this is a saying that speaks strongly against those who misinterpret Christian doctrine in such a way as to preach a security for the believer, regardless of what that believer might do. From the Early Church Fathers, through Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and many others, this verse is one of the key verses that calls us to be willing to suffer, to obey, to follow, to witness, and finally, to die if necessary, in the service of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, it has become all to common nowadays to preach a gospel that has Jesus wanting us to be rich, healthy, wise, and not suffering. Here is the sad part. That gospel is absolutely true . . . eventually. When God’s Kingdom finally is established, we are told that this will fulfill all the prophecies of the lion lying down with the lamb, of our being in a land of milk and honey, of reigning alongside Our Lord Jesus Christ, etc. But, there are a large number of Scriptures that point out that until that time comes, we shall be treated just like our Master was treated. That is not exactly a comforting saying. The idea that my call may be to suffer torture, as did many of the martyrs and as many Christians do to this day, is not what I would call an encouraging bit of news. And yet, when one reads the accounts of the martyrs and the confessors, one reads of people who rejoiced that they had the opportunity to bear witness to their Lord Jesus Christ in a very public way. That is so far from anything that is normally preached in the USA nowadays, including among the Orthodox.

As Orthodox, we are called to be a people of fasting and prayer. Our Lord commented that when the bridegroom is gone, then the people will fast. That is the situation in which we find ourselves today. We find ourselves in the time between the Lord’s first and second coming. We find ourselves in the time when we are called to fast, to pray, to sacrifice, to suffer, and, if necessary, to die. Sadly, that is not the gospel that is being preached in many of our churches. The Christians of the Early Church were glad to fast and pray, because their tiny “suffering” of hunger, and the time spent in rigorous prayer, let them experience something of what Our Lord experienced, and let them join themselves to Our Lord’s sufferings. That is why Saint Paul was so glad to write that he, in his service, was filling out what was “lacking” in Our Lord’s sufferings.

But, we are not glad to fast and to pray. We are not glad when we are called to account for our faith. Rather, we behave as though something has gone wrong and as though we have lost track of what Our Lord wants for us. Recently on Facebook, a photograph of me as a Jesus People was posted. It dates back 40 years. I had hair! I weighed nearly 70 pounds less than what I weigh today. We lived together in a Christian commune and shared our goods. Yes, I agree that it was an idealistic time that, just like Acts chapter 2, was not likely to survive for a long time. But, it was also a time when singers such as Larry Norman and Keith Green were singing and asking us to sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom. We were glad in those days, in part because we believed that the Kingdom would soon be established, as a couple of Hal Lindsey books told us.

Nowadays, that preaching has been lost and the Gospel has  been wedded to an American ideal that is very far from Scripture, Holy Tradition, or even the Jesus People. Let me quote to you from another blog, in which a father realized what it means to be a modern Christian in the USA:

My daughters and their husbands both attend the largest church in Tulsa, a 15,000 (give or take a thousand) member megachurch with flashing lights, smoke machines, and “ushers” who stand guard at the doors to keep parents from taking any children under the age of two into the auditorium. (I refuse to call it a sanctuary.) My oldest called me today—I had suggested she and I go to Dallas on Saturday. I have been missing her and just wanted to spend some time with her, and she likes to shop down there. She couldn’t this weekend, partly because of the new series they are starting at her church: “I Want A New Marriage.” No doubt accompanied by Huey Lewis and the News singing a remake of “I Want A New Drug.” (And I’m not kidding. At their annual Christmas spectacular this last year they worked in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” complete with zombies. You read that right. How God is holding back his wrath over our whole city on that one is beyond me.)

So, just what is wrong with getting out of debt, losing some pounds, and improving your marriage? Well, nothing. And yet, everything. It is the no-Gospel, no-Jesus message Michael Spencer saw Osteen preaching. It is effective. It will fill a church building with people with money to spend on books and CDs and DVDs all day long. But it has nothing to do with the Gospel. Nothing.

We are called to something much deeper, much wilder, and much stronger than what is described above. It is not a comfortable Gospel, but it is the Gospel. Let us make sure to obey and follow that Gospel.