Following Judah's Lion

What About the Cross?

I Cor.1:18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved…IT IS THE POWER OF GOD.

I will again sound the clarion call to all bloggers from all persuasions and doctrinal perspectives. What about the cross? I have written about the cross of Christ here, here, here, here, here, and here as well as inserted it in many other posts. And as I scan the blogscape I continue to see very little about the cross, the centerpiece and core of our faith. We seem to get caught up with almost anything but the cross, and many times we argue about the cross instead of spiritually ingesting the refreshing essence of that which purchased our eternity. We should pick it up daily and never get over what it means to us and our salvation. Paul says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…”.

Survey the topics along the blog horizon and see the pitiful excuses for issues that most times crowd out the cross which showcases the willing recipient of its horrors. Have we grown weary of its glory or have we left its majesty to seek greater treasures? Are we so consumed with the doctrinal battles that we have forgotten to present the victory that has been already won? Would the apostles be amazed and grieved to see how little ink and verbiage the crucifixion gets in today’s evangelical genre? Paul knew nothing but Christ and Him crucified and yet we seem to know everything but that.

Shouldn’t the cross and its Christ be our constant focus and devotion with all the rest being the fringe? We were not purchased by doctrinal purity or eschatological accuracy or anything of our own making and design, we were won and forgiven through the blood of God Himself in human form who suffered, bled, and died as payment in full for our sins. Payment in full, I said, and can that ever fully sink into our hearts and minds? Does the thought of that sacrifice drive our passions and continue to forge our thoughts toward the church and the world? And yet peruse the blog addresses that claim to be Christian and log the articles that center of the cross of Jesus Christ.

See the articles on objections about Hannah Montana or the sins of Rosie O’Donnell or a critique of the world at large and their entourage of sins, as if we should be surprised. Read as the gay community is castigated as if they are above all sinners and should be treated as an isolated boxcar of lepers on their way to the ovens of Auschwitz. Read the political editorials about anything from illegal immigration to the fair tax and of course earthly criticisms of the presidential candidates. Hear the bloggers pontificate about their particular doctrinal viewpoint concerning things that probably cannot be fully known this side of heaven, but read their words of absolute certainty. And then there are the smorgasbord of YouTube clips, moral failures of pastors, silly evangelistic methods, Christian compromises, planned parenthood, interfaith gatherings, and an endless host of other blog nick knacks that draw readers but do not edify the spirit.

And the Biblical posts deal with some relevant issue or as an answer to some other blog or the creative musings of the blog master himself. But in the midst of this plush forest of topics and articles remains a seeming desert, a place that seems much less watered and in which no vegetation has been grown through care, water, and nourishment. And in the very center of this desert stands the cross, that which should be our very life has been relegated to a doctrinal aside and a post rarity. We no longer need its strength and to hear and read about it with any consistency, no, it has provided our initial monentum and we can take it from here. We have been weaned off the reflection of its glory and we are now content with the nutrients of newspaper clippings and rants and a continuous conveyor belt of the critique of others. But what about the cross?

Are we not indicted that we have become so blind as to be not only ambivalent about its vacancy, but to have the absence of the cross go amazingly unnoticed? And this post is not about the cross, this about the way the cross has been treated among Christian blogs. Should in not be the goal, and even a rule, that each month should have a post about the Savior and His cross? Just once a month, just one written journey back to Golgotha, at least once a month. Can you imagine the Ford company sending out their commercials about the shortcomings of the other companies, complete with all the measurements about some car and the dangerous driving of some, and only 1 in 50 ever mention the Ford name? And yet the church sometimes babbles like an incessant dog about all kinds of issues and topics without a tip of the hat to the cross.

There is no Christianity without the cross. It defines who God is and what he has done and in fact authenticates our label as Christians. Without the cross we are still in our sins and have been deceived into a religious system that has no power to save anyone. Without the cross there exists no path to a Holy God, no safety of redemption into which to run. Without the cross we have nothing but words of doctrinal interest without the backing of any divine witness that substantiates those truths. The cross is grace - the cross is mercy - the cross is forgiveness - the cross is redemption - the cross is eternal life - the cross is light - the cross is adoption - the cross is new birth - the cross is Almighty God reaching out in blood draining love and saying “Come, all is now ready for you”.

How can we get so caught up in ourselves and leave the cross? But what about all the heresy and even apostasy in the evangelical community? Yes, humbly and forcefully address it but please never think that when we are preaching and lifting high the cross that is not addressing it as well! Teaching, preaching, revealing, loving, and spreading the message of the cross is a colossal tool of apologetic assault on those who would create another focus of the faith. There will always be spiritual refinement in the church. The questions of the place of humanitarian works in our outreach; the questions about church structure; the questions about the role of women; the questions about translations; and all the other refining questions that can be used of our Lord to mature the church into a greater revelation of its Incarnate Head.

But at the center, at the white hot core of our mission and message, must always be the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. A beacon of redemptive light to the world and the life to the believer. I urge you brother and sister blogger, take one post a month, one article a month, whether it be from your own words or from some anointed servant of God, post about the cross. You may even draw some criticism but wear it as an undeserving badge of glory. There is nothing that glorifies our Great God than preaching His cross. Nothing…

God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.