As Christians go out into the world as ambassadors of the Kingdom, we mustn’t lose sight of the cross. That is, we have to be sure that Christ’s mission shapes our mission. He came to this world to do good, healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the hungry. He came to this world to teach, speaking with an authority that amazed people.
But it was his death on the cross that truly set Christ apart. It was in that act that he did what no one else could do, he who knew no sin dying for a sinful world. Jesus’ death was a sacrifice, a willing surrender of his life. It was not just that his teachings angered some or that his actions threatened others. Jesus came to this world to lay down his life to redeem many.
As Christians we should be doing good deeds. We should be teaching the forms of piety and morality that Jesus spoke of. But in everything we do, there must be a shadow of the cross, a message of redemption for a lost world. When we lose that aspect to our ministries, we lose the very thing that sets us apart from other doers of good.
Let us do good to others. Let us teach them about justice and self-control. But above all, let us point them to the cross.
{photo by Ian Britton}
Amen and Amen.
It is interesting that even all the physical miracles/healings Jesus did had the purpose of pointing to who He was and what He came to do; namely, His death and resurrection – giving His life has a ransom for many. (The so-called “Messianic Secret” couldn’t be clearer here.)
Though the cross is certainly our redemtive raison d’etre, the cross is also an ethic for us (cf. Phil 2.5-8) that ought to shape how we do good works, how we teach others, how we minister to the world, etc… In other words, the cross is also the means to the ends. Unfortunately, there are just too many examples in Christian history where the cross as the ethical value has been ignored in exchange for utilitatianism.
Grace and peace,
Rex
“But in everything we do, there must be a shadow of the cross, a message of redemption for a lost world. ”
I find it (mostly) easy to do this on Sunday morning, but on Sat. night at Elroy’s Pizza the task is much harder! How hard it is for me to realize that even making a pizza can, and should, be an act of worship. “Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry.” AW Tozer Tough stuff for me today . . .
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