A newer, more respectable cross

"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

"All unannounced and mostly undetected," writes A.W. Tozer, "there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental. First, from this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique–a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis is not as before. The old cross," he contends, "would have no truck with the world."

Was Tozer perceptive or paranoid? That the appearance of Christianity today is different from what it was a generation ago can’t really be questioned. It has gained a popular image, like that which a good public relations firm would bring, giving it a new face, making it respectable–and even fashionable to a degree. The scorn and shame of following Christ are gone–at least in many areas of the world.

But is the new really a contemporary version of the old, or has its basic character changed, rendering it anemic and falling far short of the standard of God’s grace? Has popularizing the message altered it in such a way that the essential meaning and purpose of the Cross have been nullified?

Jesus said, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it" (Luke 9:23,24).

Paul believed in a personal cross–the price that believers must pay–for he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, 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).

One proof that the new cross is not the same as the old is the large number of individuals who call themselves Christians, who go to church, and carry Bibles, yet show no appreciable evidence of change in their lives.

Don’t be misled. The contemporary cross–the one with no offense, no cost, and no shame–is not the cross Paul was referring to when he wrote, "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). - Resource Reading: 1 Corinthians 1