The Uncomfortable Cross

I have a serious candy problem right now.  If there is candy in a 50 ft radius of me, I'm eating it.  This happens every year.  No candy today.  No candy.

I wore a leather skirt and giraffe print tights the other day.  If ever I get a new job, I will have to change my entire wardrobe.  Or I just need to work somewhere that will find this style of dress acceptable, because all of my clothes are slightly not business casual.

Last Friday night my darling friend Carrie had a fundraiser to help support her past and future mission work.  We cooked up some breakfast for dinner and fed "the masses."  The masses being people from our church.  We also watched "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls."  Pretty sure that film did some changing in me that I'm not here to discuss right now...

Because I have something else I want to talk about.

I've been struck with the thought of the comfort of Christianity becoming uncomfortable and the idea of the American Jesus (Buddy Jesus).  In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus tells us that ultimately we will be separated into two groups of people, sheep and goats, and the criteria will be how we cared for the poor, the hungry, the imprisoned, the naked masses.

When all is said and done, will we all as Christians be with the sheep?

We try to contextualize Christ's teachings.  In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, after Jesus' teaching that you must enter the kingdom like a little kid, a wealthy man comes up and asks Jesus what he needs to do.  Jesus tells him he lacks one little thing. (Which is ironic because the rich man thought he had everything, what could he lack?)  You can almost feel the man's excitement in learning what that one thing could possibly be.  Then Jesus drops the big one: "Sell everything you have and give it to the poor."  The man's face sinks, and he walks away with his riches.

Jesus doesn't tell the man to be a better steward, or to treat his workers fairly, or not to make money an idol (all of which we should).  He tells this highly educated and devoutly religious man that he lacks that one thing.  There are a lot of people coming to the Kingdom, and God doesn't want all the luggage that comes with them.

I bet it broke Jesus' heart to let the man walk away.  The Bible says Jesus looks at him and "loves him" as he walks away.  Jesus doesn't run after him yelling "Hey!  It's a journey, just give half," or "Start with 10 percent."  He lets the man choose his wealth.

Apparently, Jesus telling the man to give up everything he has and give it to the poor was not a comfortable situation for him.  But Jesus tells him and then let's the man choose.  Just like He does with us every day.  Our culture is "seeker sensitive."  We want to compromise discipleship in order to draw a larger crowd.  With sincere hearts we don't want to see anyone walk away from Jesus because of the discomfort of his cross.  We clip the claws on the Lion a little, we clean up a bit of the bloody Passion we are called to follow.

This is probably why the disciples react as they do and protest in awe.  "Who then can be saved?"  (Why must you make it so hard?  We need some rich folks here, Jesus, we're trying to build a movement!)  And yet, Jesus lets him walk away.

Rather than accumulating stuff for oneself, followers of Jesus abandon everything, trusting God alone for providence.  That's what this is about.

Jesus warns people of the cost of discipleship, that it will cost them everything they have hoped for and believed in - family, possessions, even their lives.  He warns them to "count the cost before putting their hand to the plow."  And Jesus allows people to walk away.

Being a servant sounds hard and sacrificial, huh?  But we can't end up with the sort of Christianity in which everyone can be a Christian but no one knows what a Christian is anymore.  God lays it out for us.  Jesus lays it out for us.

It's like going into a church that lacks crosses.  We've all been in a church like that.  Being "seeker sensitive" and referring to the fact that many people associate the pain of past church experiences with the traditional icons and music, hymnals and pews.  So just get rid of the "cultural barriers."  There is something unsettling about a church without crosses.

True, the cross is not comfortable.  But it is the cornerstone of our faith, and I'm afraid if we remove the cross, we remove the central symbol of nonviolence and grace of our Lover.  If we remove the cross, we are in danger of promoting a cheap grace.

Perhaps it should make us uncomfortable.  After all, it wasn't so comfy to get nail to.