THE CROSS OF NO COMPROMISE
But God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)
The Cross of Jesus Christ is the single most absolute statement ever made to mankind. It stands throughout time and history silently shouting at successive waves of humanity that there is one life and death choice to be made by each one of us. To choose not to make that choice is to make it.
To the deep indignation of the chief priests, Pilate personally chose the words attached to Jesus' cross that told the world the nature of His crime: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (John 19:19-22). Without taking anything away from that eternally truthful statement, if we were asked to re-write the name of Jesus' crime in today's vernacular, perhaps the most appropriate sign would read: "Jesus of Nazareth: No Compromise".
Among both believers and unbelievers alike, the cross is the most visible and widely recognised symbol of Christianity in the world today. In the western church, it can be found worn around our necks; erected high on the roofs of our church buildings; stuck on the rear windows of our cars; mounted in paintings and ornaments decorating our homes; and engraved on our Bibles. We sing loudly about it, talk reverently about it, and pay due respect to it at the traditional time of year. We carry it, venerate it, and even erroneously worship it.
It seems we will happily do anything with the cross except embrace it.
Not only do we avoid embracing it with the same determination we would use to avoid catching the plague, the shelves of our Christian bookstores are lined with manuals that promise to help us do so in an endless variety of ways. We have volumes of books telling us how to get connected, how to have the church we dream about, how to be the best leader or the greatest spiritual warrior, how to have a problem-free marriage, how not to be left behind and even how to eat like Jesus would have eaten. One of the biggest selling Christian books in recent years, together with its spin-offs, focuses primarily on teaching the church how to pray successfully for blessing and prosperity. Solomon had it right when he wrote: "..... of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh." (Eccles. 12:12)
If the books don't satisfy us we can of course purchase one of the latest "feel good" worship CDs or DVDs, and spend hours soothing our flesh with state of the art musical technology and beautiful images of Christian celebrities, who've obviously read the books because they sound so good, look so right, and make us feel good too. Or why not log onto the internet and download the latest exciting messages from our favourite prophetic ministries?
And if we still find ourselves needing that last bit of reassurance that we're doing this Christian thing right, the latest full colour glossy conference brochure beckons us invitingly to come and receive more power, more healing, more prophecy, more fire, more equipping, more blessing, more, more, more, more, more!
So, is it wrong to read books, buy CDs, use the internet or attend Christian conferences? Not if we're being directed by the Holy Spirit. However, if the outcome is simply to comfort our flesh and quench our insatiable thirst for more and more head knowledge, the answer has to be a definite yes! This Christian "lifestyle" the Western church currently engages in has produced a weak, self-focused, self-comforting Bride ever seeking to pamper herself. It's time to ask just what is the fruit of this over-resourced lifestyle? The early church had the Holy Spirit, the Old Testament and persecution and they turned the world upside down!
Ask yourself when was the last time you attended a conference solely to hear someone speak on the glory of the Cross? Or when was the last time you worshiped deeply to a song celebrating the fellowship of Jesus' suffering? Or when was the last time you sought out a book not to receive more revelation, but to receive conviction over your excessively comfortable lifestyle and your lukewarm response to the miracle of Christ in you?
What have we done with the cross?
"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matthew 13:18-23)
We are used to reading the parable of the sower in the context of evangelism. If we take a closer look at Jesus' teaching in this passage, however, we will see that the only reference Jesus made to the unsaved in this parable was in relation to those who hear the gospel, do not understand it, and have it snatched away. He then continues on to speak of believers.
Firstly, He speaks of a group of believers who to all outward appearance would appear to be strong and well-grounded. They have heard and received the word-seed, but are unable to stand when tribulation arises on account of the gospel. Next He speaks of a group of believers who hear, but become distracted by the "cares of the world" before they can bear fruit for the kingdom. The cares of the world are not, as some imagine, worries and anxieties. They are, rather, all those things that the unbelieving world cares for and values. Finally, Jesus refers to a group of believers who not only hear the word but also UNDERSTAND it. These are the ones who produce fruit in His Kingdom. The prophet Daniel spoke of a last days people who would not only know their God and do great exploits, but who would also UNDERSTAND and instruct many (Daniel 11:32,33). Many people are hearing and receiving the message of the gospel without understanding it.
Didn't the Lord warn us that those who bore no fruit would be "taken away", and those who bore fruit would be pruned so they would bear even more fruit (John 15:1-2)? Do we truly understand this principle? How many times does the Father draw near with intent to prune us, and we run for our spiritual warfare manual, blaming the devil for trying to rob us? Or, put another way, how many times does the Holy Spirit draw us to the cross, and we desperately look around for another route? After all, everyone knows that "Jesus did it all" for us, don't they? Don't we just need to believe, receive and sigh with relief!
The message of the cross to the world is salvation, healing, and deliverance. However, the cross carries a further message for those of us who have already believed on the Blood of Christ and entered the kingdom. That message is "no compromise with the world" and it is achieved through the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18) Tragically, the western church has for the most part traded that very clear message for the more attractive comfort and apparent security the world offers. Even more tragically, the world looks at the contemporary church and sees - the world.
How is the church different to the world when all that's needed to become a Christian is to repeat some pre-chosen words, read a pamphlet and sign on the dotted line? How is the church different to the world when we speak our own exclusive language, associate only with our own kind and gather regularly for our religious rituals at our particular brand of Christian clubhouse? How is the church different to the world when we live our lives by every word that comes out of the mouths of our celebrity idols instead of every word that comes out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4.4)? I tell you, the world does the same.
There is only one thing that separates the church from the world. It is the cross of Jesus Christ. There never was a church building, a Christian book, a gifted leader, an anointed singer, or a prophetic experience, that the world can't look at and say to the church, "we are no different to you because we have the same". Why? Because Satan is the master counterfeiter. He can even deceive the world by counterfeiting the anointing. But there's one thing He can never counterfeit, and that's the work of the cross in a believer's life. The world knows nothing like the cross. Even the would-be martyrs of Islam die for their own reward. But Jesus Christ chose to leave His glory, become a man, and sacrifice His life for the world. We need to understand that! We need to preach that! We need to live that! Because that's the watershed, that's the line of demarcation, and that's the indisputable difference between the world and the church.
Are you living it? Can you consider your life and identify where the cross is being applied right now? Are you finding His grace is sufficient for that place where you're being crucified? And are you enduring for the joy that is set before you? Or are you running in the other direction as hard as you can because you were only told about a personal saviour and not a personal cross?
Well, for those of you who haven't been told, those of you who've received the word in stony places or among the thorns, hear and receive. As God is my witness, I will not be held responsible for not delivering to you the full gospel. I will not one day be held to account for not proclaiming to you words that are Spirit and life. THE CROSS IS NOT OPTIONAL!
The cross is not a maybe, an afterthought or an added extra! A crossless Christianity is a counterfeit Christianity. Jesus didn't just say "follow me"; He said "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34). If we would truly follow the Lamb wherever He goes, we must first follow Him to the Cross. If you have been saved for some time and once knew this truth, but the "cares of the world" have become more real to you than the cross of Christ, you have no option but to repent and turn back. Our citizenship is not to be found in this world, because it is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) It is not living in the world that is sin; the sin is loving that world more than loving Christ (Romans 12:2; James 4:4)
Furthermore, if you are a new believer or young disciple, listen to me. So you've had a dramatic conversion; perhaps you've received a prophetic word announcing an amazing anointing on your life, perhaps you've even been called as a prophet or apostle. Know this: if you are to fulfil your calling, your vision and your prophetic destiny, the Holy Spirit WILL lead you to your personal cross, and not just once. There you will suffer the loss of reputation, the loneliness, the heartbreak and the rejection Christ faced. "What?" you may be saying. "Christ did all that for me!" Yes, He did, and He'll ask you to do it for Him (Matt. 10:38; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 8:17; Heb. 13:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:12) But there is a wonderful difference between His Cross and yours and it's this: He faced His cross alone, but you will face yours with Him. That's what He did for you! That's the fellowship of His sufferings, and unless you come to know Him in that place, you will never know Him face to face, and never embrace Him in His fullness. (Phil. 3:10)
At a certain time in His ministry, Jesus set His face towards Jerusalem, knowing full well that the cross awaited Him there (Luke 9:51). He never approached the cross as a victim. He was not murdered; His life was not taken from Him. He said "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:17,18) Don't be deceived into believing you're enduring the cross when you suffer the consequences of your own sin or foolishness - that's not the cross, that's the Father's discipline. You will know the cross when you suffer innocently, as the Lamb did, and when you understand that the cross is ordained by the Father to perfect (complete) us (Heb. 2:10).
Some of you reading this may sense a certain zeal in my words. I hope so, because I am compelled to write this way by a deep and passionate yearning that the Bride of Christ would no longer circumvent the Cross of Christ! We need to truly come to understand that we cannot arrive at the other side of the cross by any other way except through it. Only then will the world see that what we have, and what we offer them, is different to anything they know! And they will want it, friends, they will want it!
The cross of Christ is the only thing that separates us from the world. More than that, neither can the world separate us from the Cross. The world may destroy the church's most ornate buildings, silence her holiest worshipers and imprison and kill her greatest teachers - but it can never, never, never rob us of the Cross!
Come on, church, the Lord is calling us back to the cross because He would meet us there and allow us to know Him intimately, yes, even in that place. Let each one of us settle this within ourselves and set our faces towards Jerusalem. No more compromise!
"Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution? Can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force of arms? Indeed some of us know the truth of the ancient text: 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter'. No, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through him who has proved his love for us. I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God's whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 8:35-39 (J.B. Phillips Translation)
Further reading on the Cross can be found at "
Website: www.greatsouthland.org
Email: southland@greatsouthland.org
