The Cross – Just an Accessory, Or a Declaration?

Picture an aristocratic woman during the French Revolution accenting her attire for the day with a necklace on which hangs a miniature guillotine. A lovely damsel in the Old West wearing a chain around her neck bearing a replica of a hangman’s gallows. Or a politician campaigning with a tiny electric chair pinned to his lapel.

 

Hideous, right? Gruesome? Even sadistic? But in a sense, that’s what happens whenever someone decides, purely as a fashion accessory, to don a chain from which hangs a cross. These days, wearing a cross too often is merely a stylistic garnish giving little or no consideration of what the cross meant 2,000 years ago – and what it has come to signify over the centuries since.

 

A cross was utilized for capital punishment, a cruel, torturous method of execution employed by the ancient Persians, Carthaginians and Romans. People living in those times could not have imagined that image as garish ornamentation.

 

This was the form of the cross
favored by St. Francis of Assisi.

Before anyone misunderstands what I’m about to say, I’m not being critical in any way of the many folks who wear a cross as a symbol of their faith in Jesus Christ. Like the Star of David for Jews, the cross has deep meaning for Christians, a declaration of devotion to Jesus.

I have a cross on a small chain myself I received a gift, but other than my wedding ring, I’m not much for wearing jewelry. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate its significance. Were it not for the cross and Jesus’ surrender to be crucified, followed by His resurrection, we would not have forgiveness of sin. We'd not have been redeemed and made right with God. We would have no hope of eternal life. And we wouldn’t be able to experience spiritual rebirth in this life, which Jesus talked about in John 3:3, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

 

So, when I see someone displaying a cross, I wonder whether they’re a follower of Christ, too. Because the cross – that instrument of death utilized on a hill in Jerusalem called Golgotha – is no trivial matter, not an icon for meaningless personal adornment.

 

Writing to the church in Galatia, the apostle Paul expressed well the overwhelming import of the cross. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

 

Jesus Himself declared, “anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39). In perhaps another setting Jesus expressed similar words: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

 

That doesn’t mean we also must be nailed to a cross literally. But following Christ does involve dying to self, setting aside our personal agendas and interests to make His will our top priority. This is why Paul could write, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer life, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). When we become reborn in Christ, our “death” to self allows Him to live in us.

 

Clearly, displaying the cross on our person shouldn't be taken lightly. The writer of Hebrews said it well: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

 

Here’s what Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Paul the apostle summed it up this way: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Think on that for a while. 

 

What about those who don’t value the cross any more than they do the trinkets stashed in their jewelry boxes? There have always been the skeptics, and there always will. As Paul observed, “For, as I have often told you before and now say even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18).

 

He also soberly stated, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). And why is that? The apostle offered this honest appraisal: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 5:17-20).

 

Embracing the truth about the cross – and Jesus Christ – enables us to have an eternal relationship with God, along with access to freedom and an abundant life the non-believing world around us can’t comprehend. Consider these words: 

    “When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of our sinful nature, God made you alive in Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulation, that was against us and stood opposed to us; he took it away nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15). 

Weary from Well-Doing?

As some wise person – or maybe just a wise guy – has observed, the only problem with everyday life is that it’s so daily.

We go through each day, carrying out responsibilities, performing work, handling chores, and working through problems – then we go to bed, get some rest (hopefully), wake up the next morning and start all over again.

Coping with the monotonous present
is sometimes easier with the end in sight.

Even when it’s a newborn baby, a puppy, a new job, being newlyweds, or attaining a different stage in life, the newness eventually fades and sameness replaces it. We find ourselves mired in the mundane.

Other than doing a little gardening in years past, I can’t relate to what life must be for farmers, but they must understand the drudgery of day after day after day as much as anyone. They can’t just till the soil and sow the seed, then bring in the crop the next day. Instead they must work their land, doing all they can to nurture the crop and hope nature cooperates. The same applies to tending livestock. Cows can’t feed themselves – or milk themselves. Chickens won’t gather their own eggs. Sheep need to be shorn regularly, and so on.

So how do we get through the inevitability of every day, with only blips of excitement to punctuate the relentless routine of being a mom or a dad, a worker or an executive, a student, or even an athlete or a performer?

If all we concentrate on is the here-and-now, at times it can be extremely difficult. The “meantime” can seem quite mean when there’s no end in sight. But that’s the key – we need to focus on our goals, the desired end result, not the minutiae we must deal with at the moment.

The same holds true spiritually. Sometimes it seems like we’re taking forever to experience the spiritual growth we desire. Maybe God is finding it necessary to teach us the same hard lessons over and over. Or we pray without seeing any apparent answers. Maybe we’re concerned about a family member or friend, asking the Lord to intervene in their lives, but no progress is evident.

Whatever the case may be, efforts at well-doing can make us downright weary. So again, what are we to do?

We find answers in the Scriptures, which recognize the realities of life, that it’s hard, challenging, frustrating and perplexing. Again and again, we’re told to persevere, trusting an acceptable outcome will come eventually. For instance, we’re admonished, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

A similar verse offers encouragement for those times when we’re engaged in work we hope will count for eternity, even though we’ve seen no evidence of positive results. “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

The ultimate example is Jesus Himself, who from a human perspective had more than enough reason to give up His mission. Yet we’re told we should be, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

What are you facing today? Washing clothes and cleaning the house? Pulling weeds? Coping with a disagreeable boss, or preparing dull, uninspiring quarterly reports? Struggling to achieve healing and restoration in a difficult relationship? Engaging in your regular exercise routine in an attempt to stay healthy? Whatever it is, take your cue from the Scriptures. Remind yourself you will indeed “reap a harvest” if you don’t give up. Keep looking for the end.