Tag Archives: sacrifice

No greater love

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I’ll continue the series on non-participation soon, but I’m not quite ready to do that.

In the meantime, I wanted to share something that has troubled me at times. It came up again this Memorial Day. When talking about soldiers and their sacrifices, people like to quote John 15:13—”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

It’s hard for me to connect the words of a man going to die on a cross with what soldiers do. One gave himself willingly over to his enemies; one prefers to see his enemies die rather than die himself. One died not only on behalf of his friends but also on behalf of his enemies (which would be us, according to Romans 5:10); it’s almost a given that soldiers work off of an us/them mentality.

As far as laying down one’s life, I rarely see soldiers choosing to give up their lives. Admittedly, they choose to risk their lives. But apart from suicide attacks, like the kamikaze pilots in WWII, few soldiers go into battle planning to lay down their lives.

It seems to me that using these words in this way ignores most of what Jesus was trying to say. Or am I wrong?

The offensive cross

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We saw yesterday that our ministry must be performed in the shadow of the cross. The problem is, of course, is that the cross, when truly understood, is offensive. That’s what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1, and it’s still true.

Shane Claiborne, in his book Irresistible Revolution, tells of interning at a megachurch. He noticed that there were no crosses in the sanctuary. When he asked, he was told that crosses aren’t “seeker friendly.”

Isn’t that why so many want to reduce Christianity to random acts of service? Let’s go build houses. Feed people. Do anything except talk to them about Jesus.

We need to be about service. But that’s only a part of our mission as Christians. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Serve and give his life. Our service needs the cross to make sense. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, Christian service is no different than the acts of philanthropy done by other groups.

The cross may not be seeker friendly. It may be a stumbling block and an offense. But Christianity without the cross is no longer Christianity.

The verse Jesus recommended twice

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“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13)

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matthew 12:7)

Maybe it’s a coincidence, but Jesus twice told people that they needed to learn the meaning of Hosea 6:6.

Let’s say it’s not a coincidence. What do you think is so important about this verse that would make Jesus quote it twice?