Rev Bill

“Take up your cross and follow me”

We all know these words of Jesus — but what do they mean?

Do they mean to sacrifice what we want for what Jesus wills for us?
Do they mean doing things that show God’s love to others — even if they are difficult and not what we would readily choose to do?
Do they mean supporting others — even if we have to sacrifice things to do so?
Do they mean being open to the direction God may be leading us — even if it is not the direction we might choose to go?

The answer to these questions is: Yes!

The problem is that — many times — we do not want to sacrifice — or go out of our way to show God’s love to others — or follow God when it is difficult to do so.

I found this article from The Alban Institute that deals with this subject. Here is part of what the article says:

The cross has a way of inserting itself into our lives. Often knowledge of the cross goes hand in hand with the experience of some significant life failures. To recognize that you are, after all, a broken vessel can sober you up a bit about your quest for glory.

In our culture the quest for glory, and so the failure to achieve it, wears many faces. The recent cult of celebrity seduces many of us, and not least those who crave the food of endless attention, praise, and adoration. The neurotic need for order and security beckons those whose quest is for an ultimate safety that the world cannot give short of the grave. And many cannot live their lives except through others and with their approval.

We are loath to acknowledge any of this, of course. We have become practiced at “keeping our game face on” and “never letting them see you sweat”—unless it’s to make a spectacle of our woes by turning life into another second-rate reality show. Perhaps the starkest reality is being useless in a global marketplace whose mythology is that you can “be all that you can be” if only you will reinvent yourself daily. As the social scientist Richard Sennett reminds us, “Failure is the great modern taboo.”

Go to The Alban Institute’s article to read more on this.

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