Sunday Shorts: In Denial

Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (NIV)

            We’re not very good at denying ourselves, are we? We tend to think that the world revolves around us, so we’ll oppose anything or anyone that gets in our way when we want to please ourselves. I think that Christians are sometimes very bad at this, especially when we seek to create society in our image and make things easier for us to be seen as right, faithful, and true. Instead of carrying our crosses by applying our faith solely to ourselves, we want to impose our beliefs on others and get them to carry our crosses for us. We do this through forcing unjust laws on everyone, banning books in schools and libraries, and undermining public resources which fund education, homelessness, welfare, and equal rights. Jesus would not be proud of the harm we cause through our self-righteous ways; Christ would not condone denying help to those in need of support, counseling, and love.

            I think if Jesus lived among us today, we would end up crucifying Him again. We wouldn’t be able to take His straightforward rebuke of how we’ve dangerously mixed our Christianity with nationalism, or how we cruelly treat people who are foreign, queer, or marginalized just because they live differently from ourselves. Those people are the crosses we are meant to bear, to carry, and support lovingly instead of burdening them with our issues, our prejudices, our bigotries. The Kingdom of God that we all hope for is meant to be like yeast which positively permeates the whole loaf in order to make it rise; it’s not meant to be a poison which kills the spirit and diminishes hope in others.

            So, if we truly want to follow Jesus, then we have to lift up those crosses which seem so unfair, unequal, and burdensome – the crosses of unity and diversity in our community, the crosses of respect and humanity in our world, the crosses of love and understanding to all, the crosses of equality and liberty that Jesus would have us bear.

Point to ponder: How do I impose my Christian beliefs on others? How can I remedy this?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, being a Christian is not for wimps and was never meant to be easy. Forgive us for wanting things to be the way we want, instead doing the things and being the followers that You want. Open our hearts to Your teaching, so we may help and love the world You came to save. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is a retired Scottish Presbyterian pastor now living in Knoxville, Tennessee.