Lent 2023: Week 6

‘We all have our cross to bear’ or ‘that’s my cross to bear’ are likely phrases that many of us have heard used regularly. Such phrases seem to suggest that to carry one’s cross means to cope with some hindrance to living a fuller, happier life. However, when we look at Jesus’ instruction to take up our cross and follow Him, looking to him as our example, such interpretations appear misguided.

In Matt. 16.24 (parallels in Mark 8.34 and Luke 9.23) Jesus instructs his disciples that if they want to follow him, they are to deny themselves and take up their cross. At the heart of this teaching seems to be the point that a life lived dominated by self-love and preservation at the cost of others has no place in the kingdom of God. That’s not to say that good self-care isn’t important! As a child of God made in the image of God, good self-care is good and loving stewardship of God’s good creation. Rather the point is that when self-care turns into selfish self-assertion at the cost of others, we have stepped away from a life fit for the Kingdom and stepped towards a life that places ourselves at the centre and everybody else as a threat or in service of our position. Such an attitude de-humanises ‘the other’ as we now see ‘them’ as objects to be feared, used, compared to, or competed with as we wrestle for prominence and centre stage. Such an attitude leaves us enslaved to always looking over our shoulder for the next threat to our fragile (and illusory) status or seeking to find ways to use ‘the other’ for our own ends. We may gain ‘the world’ but in doing so sabotage the relationships of love with God and one another that we were made for.

In contrast, a life that is focused on dying in service of others (literally and/or metaphorically), out of love-fuelled desire for others – including enemies – to flourish as the image of God in relationship with us and God, is the stuff of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ death, as an act of love manifest as servant-hearted, self-sacrifice, is the shape of the cruciform life his disciples are called to and the nature of love at the heart of the Kingdom, and it gives a more accurate picture of what it means to take up our cross. For those who follow Jesus, the call is not to die to reconcile creation to God, only Jesus can do that (Col. 1.19-20!), but instead to bring to bear in our own lives, aided by the Holy Spirit, the death of that which would seek to draw us away from the Christ-like shape, and the communion with God and the rest of creation, that our lives are destined for. It is a Spirited implementation of the victory over sin and death that Jesus has won at the cross. To take up our cross is to be willing to participate in the often painful, yet rewarding, work of co-operating with the Holy Spirit to address those areas of our lives that hold us back from the Christ-likeness God is beckoning us towards, that which holds us back from embracing reconciliation with God and others in a move towards eternal communion. It is to participate in the crucifixion of selfish desires and attitudes in order to lose what the world often deems vital for survival so that we may instead embrace life in relationship with God and others (Gal. 5.24). Such a life is free to love others as Christ does, even unto death, because our first concern is no longer our status, or reputation compared to others, it is no longer our concern for productivity or longevity. Instead, we begin to recognise that we are valuable as children of God before we do or achieve anything as we embrace the truth that God already loves us and calls us to follow Jesus into life eternal, loving others as we go. In this we find freedom and our true self.

However, here we may mistakenly enter a vicious circle where I engage in self-denial because it’s deemed good for me, which simply puts me back at the centre again! Instead, the point is that the nature of the kingdom is one of relationship such that I cannot experience life in its fullness if others aren’t experiencing it too. Self-denial is then not some pious act to engage in that actually fuels my sense of self-achievement, but is, in reality, me participating in God’s transformation of the whole of creation in anticipation of the renewal of all things. It is joining in with the community of the Kingdom where an environment is created by those who participate that embodies the love of God towards others in such a way that they can embrace the freedom that comes from being loved regardless of who they are or what they have done. It is this environment that encourages belonging first and foremost and that makes possible safe space for individuals to do the hard work of transformation towards the Christlikeness they were made for, in co-operation with the Holy Spirit. When I choose to deny myself take up my cross and follow Jesus, I choose to not just participate in God’s transformation and renewal of me, but I choose to participate in God’s love of others as a way of them meeting God and being transformed by God for relationship with Christ and his body, the church.  

So, as Lent draws to a close and we contemplate Passiontide and Eastertide I invite us to look afresh at what it means to take up our crosses and deny ourselves. In so doing may our lives take on more fully the love driven cruciform shape of our Saviour as we step further into the Kingdom to which he beckons us and invite others to do the same.

Self-denial is, in reality, me participating in
God’s transformation of the whole of creation
in anticipation of the renewal of all things.

Published 5 April 2023