There is one incomprehensible moment in all eternity and creation’s flow of time at which the Creator’s incarnate Son was executed. Jesus was nailed to a rugged cross by His special creation—man. In Chapter 16 the tripartite story of mankind was briefly outlined: the Creation, the Fall, and Redemption. Before the foundations of the world were laid and before the creation of man, God knew man would reject Him, and He also knew the cost of that rejection.
Because His holiness cannot abide the corruption of sin, sinful man was separated from God. Yet, God made a way for man’s sin to be washed away allowing return to a right relationship with Him. But that way would cost the death of God’s son on the cross at Calvary because man is powerless to save himself. Only by man’s free will can he accept or reject the atoning gift of forgiveness and redemption made possible by Christ’s death on the cross. In this chapter we will examine Redemption—the last chapter in the story of mankind. It is called salvation and comes only by way of the cross.
The work of the cross
Paul and Silas had been imprisoned for teaching and preaching in Philippi, a city in Macedonia. Around midnight while they prayed and sang praises, an earthquake broke the walls of the prison and the shackles fell off all of the prisoners. The distraught guard drew his sword to kill himself, knowing the escape of the prisoners meant his own death from his superiors. But Paul cried with a loud voice.
Do thyself no harm for we are still here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. [Acts 16:28-32. KJV] [emphasis added]
The first verse memorized by almost every child in any Sunday school is, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16. KJV] [emphasis added] Believe—so simple, but oh how complicated man has made it.
Writing in his short little book The Nonnegotiable Gospel, Dave Hunt says that there is only one true gospel of grace. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works should any man boast.” [Ephesians 2:8-9. KJV]
For those who believe, it is this gospel alone that saves…Sentimental appeals to “come to Jesus” or “make a decision for Christ” avail nothing if the gospel is not clearly explained and believed.
Many are attracted to Christ because of His admirable character, noble martyrdom, or because He changes lives. Such converts have not believed the gospel and thus are not saved.
The gospel (gospel of grace) contains nothing about baptism, church membership or attendance, tithing, sacraments or rituals, diet, or clothing. If we add anything to the gospel, we have perverted it…[1] [emphasis in original]
The substitution of man’s efforts to replace the redeeming work of the cross is not a new phenomenon within the church. In A Treatise on Relics, John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote that the principal cause of corruption in the early Christian church was the introduction of pagan ideas and practices soon after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine (See Chapter 3). The pagans’ practices and religion elevated mortal men to be gods and demigods. This eventually led Christians to venerate early Christian martyrs and also caused them to be viewed as a type of demigod. This became even more pronounced as the church began to be corrupted by her compromise with paganism. Because so many had been baptized into the church without having been truly converted, the Christian church incorporated many rites and ceremonies including polytheism held by these unconverted church members. At first the church tolerated these “temporary” compromises but later found they could no longer remove them because of their strength due to having been so deeply imbedded in the church. What once was tolerated and winked at now was legalized by the church. Instead of bringing the pagan through the strait gate, the church widened it to such an extent that the rush of paganism nearly overwhelmed and swept the church from its foundations.[2] The saving work of the cross was replaced with man’s ideas and labors.
We find the same pattern of compromise occurring in the Puritan church in America during the latter half of the 1600s (See Chapter 8). In 1662, the “half-way covenant” began in New England. Because the preaching of the time so emphasized sensational conversion experiences, many people in the pews were afraid to come forward and be baptized because they did not have one. They stayed in the church but did not call themselves Christian. Rather, they chose to be called “seekers” having only a half-way covenant.[3]
Such heresies do not spring forth fully grown but occur through various intermediate stages which initially appear to adhere to biblical prescriptions but with a pragmatic twist and/or modern spin. The rough edges of the gospel of the cross are smoothed to make it comfortable and more acceptable to the seeker, all under the guise of accomplishing the Great Commission. But soon the work of the cross and its message become irrelevant to what now passes for salvation and the Christian life.
The cross reduced to religious symbol
The importance of the cross in evangelical churches is declining rapidly, either through substitution of man’s efforts or the diminishment of its necessity and centrality in Christianity. Well before Rick Warren surveyed Saddleback Valley in California, Bill Hybels surveyed unchurched people to find out their preferences as he began building Willow Creek, a mega church near Chicago. The answers included “get rid of the organ,” “pad the seats,” and “ditch the cross and other symbols that make people nervous.”[4] [emphasis added]
Rick Warren also cautions the leadership of Purpose Driven churches to “…be careful not to overdo mystical, religious symbols in your facilities. Everyone knows what the cross is, but the unchurched are confused by chalices, crowns, and doves with fire coming out of their tails.”[5] Warren may be correct in saying that “everyone knows what the cross is,” but in such seeker-sensitive churches focused on church growth, it is highly probable that most do not know what the cross means because it is rarely or never clearly and correctly explained.
In his unauthorized but glowing biography of Warren, George Mair spoke of his first impressions upon arriving at Saddleback church.
Stately old palm trees stood guard near the main entrance to the Worship Center, shading benches for worshipers…a sound system carried the services throughout the complex, so overflow crowds or those who simply prefer to sit outside could enjoy the sermon and music in chairs set out under the shade trees…
I looked for a cross, or other signs of a Christian center, and finally spied a slender cross of dark metal above the complex—more a piece of art than a religious symbol.
In many ways the meeting hall was more like a basketball stadium than a church—there were almost no Christian symbols or artifacts in view. I knew there had to be a Christian cross somewhere inside, but I couldn’t find it. I didn’t know it then, but the lack of Christian imagery was characteristic of the new wave of so-called mega churches in America.[6]
The cross was never meant to be just something beautiful, a charm to wear around the neck, a piece of art, or an object of adoration. These items are of little concern to the Christian as long as he continues to understand the true meaning of the work and message of the cross. However, the absence of the cross used to identify a Christian church is a tragedy when its removal is a mere sop to the sensibilities of lost seekers. The cross should always be a reminder to the Christian of its true meaning, and they should see it as the Romans did. It was an instrument upon which men were executed in a most horrible fashion. Men shrink from it. The cross is considered an offense by the world system. One writer calls the message of the cross as “the chafing point between the physical and spiritual realms…an agitant thrown into the mix of each new generation of every nation, creating conflict while at the same time offering true peace.”[7] However, the modern-day sensibilities of many evangelical church leaders cause them to fashion sermons devoid of the work and message cross so as to bring order to the souls of their congregants without upsetting them or causing undue discomfort. But an ordering of the soul can only be found at the cross whose message calls to every man, woman, and child on the planet.
The message of the cross
The message of Christ is the cross. As the apostles went out to preach Christ, it was a radical and powerful message that “changed bad men into good ones…shook off the long bondage of paganism and altered completely the whole moral and mental outlook of the Western world.”[8] How did this message eventually conquer the mighty Roman Empire?
Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24. KJV]
The apostles were rough working men, most with little education and all without wealth or political power. Nevertheless, they took up their crosses, denied themselves, and followed Christ. They understood the cross to be a place of death. As the cross brought death to Christ at Calvary, so did their crosses bring death at the hands of men to all but John who was exiled to Patmos. And so too men who choose Christ, of necessity, must choose death to self and sin for they cannot otherwise follow Him. It is both an immediate and ongoing death to self and the world. The essence of this message is captured by the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.[9]
But such death brings a life of holiness, spiritual freedom, and eternal communion with God as they follow Christ and conform themselves to the nature of God.
The seeker-sensitive message
But self-denial and death are not readily marketable to the last three generations of Americans submersed in modern Madison Avenue techniques of selling Christianity. In the 1950s death and self-denial were banished by Norman Vincent Peale’s practical Christianity which was a blending of psychology and New Age practices into a religious mix aimed at healing the soul through self-help and the works of men (See Chapters 19-20).
Robert Schuller refined Peale’s positive thinking into possibility thinking in which inborn sin is a condition to be dealt with therapeutically as opposed to an action requiring repentance and a turning from sin. The act of faith itself absolves sin without the necessity of an ongoing faith walk—a daily dying to self and sin. The purpose for one’s salvation is to do good works rather than having a right relationship with God (See Chapter 21).[10]
Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and other Church Growth leaders have not as blatantly abandoned doctrinal soundness as did Peale and Schuller, but they are promoting the same techniques and compromises that are filling churches with “converted” seekers who appear by their lifestyles to be half-way covenanters. Warren defends these methods by saying that “proclaimers of truth don’t get much attention in a society which devalues truth…While most unbelievers aren’t looking for truth, they are looking for relief. This gives us the opportunity to interest them in the truth.”[11] But the truth doesn’t need any help. The church need not attempt to sell the truth by convincing the sinner that it is good for them. As discussed in Chapter 26, the power of the Word and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit are the only ingredients necessary to bring salvation to the heart of a sinner that accepts the grace of God.
Yes, the church can and must provide relief where possible and appropriate, but man’s salvation is not dependent on bait and hook techniques as promoted by the Church Growth movement. And yes, the church must not hit the sinner over the head with every sinful thing they’ve ever done. This does not mean the church must soft-pedal the message of the cross, but in the end it must remember that the ultimate work of salvation rests with the Holy Spirit and power of the Word of God.
By giving the sinner some slack as suggested by Warren[12] and others in seeker-sensitive churches, many preachers never get around to presenting the unadulterated powerful message of the cross nor allow time for the Holy Spirit to do His office work of convicting the sinner of his sin. Rather, the seeker-sensitive church attempts to entice the sinner through the church’s doors and then focuses on meeting their felt needs with the hope that over time the importance of being a Christian and its associated benefits will convince the seeker that they should “make a decision for Christ.” Thereafter, sanctification will come through listening and responding to a series of therapeutic messages designed to make them better people and thereby partake of the popularized view of Christianity “as the good life.”
But the heart of Christ’s call to discipleship is not doing better but embracing the message of the cross, dying to self, and living the resurrection life which will result in true sanctification. “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:27. KJV] “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” [Galatians 2:20. KJV] The resurrection life makes no provision for the flesh. “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” [Romans 13:14. KJV]
The Christ of carnal convenience
Tozer warned that many are following a false Christ, constructed by their own imagination and made in their own image. It is a Christ of “carnal convenience” closely akin to the gods of paganism. It is a utilitarian Christ whom they summon as needed to minister to their needs and wants without concern for biblical admonitions or the will of God for their lives.[13] If one is following a utilitarian Christ, then he or she is not a Christian because they have not heeded the message of the cross. But this is the story of many who sit in evangelical churches week after week, year after year, listening to user-friendly messages and enjoying the perks of Christianity without ever surrendering their lives to Christ, dying to self, and daily taking up their cross. This occurs because commitments to Christ “avail nothing if the gospel is not clearly explained and believed” and merely result in a mental shift rather than a heart and life change. But when the unapologetic message of the cross is spoken with compassion and a loving spirit, many sinners will respond to the wooing of the Holy Spirit and accept Christ as their Savior. Others will not. Will the demands of a New Testament understanding of the cross grow a church? Perhaps not as fast as one that is driven by purpose. But it will grow the kingdom of God.
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Dave Hunt, The Nonnegotiable Gospel, (Bend, Oregon: The Berean Call, 1998, 2014), pp. 9-11.
[2] John Calvin, A Treatise on Relics, Second ed., Translated from the French original, (Edinburgh, Scotland: Johnstone, Hunter & Co., 1870). A public domain book. Amazon Kindle Book, Chapter 1.
[3] Andrée Seu Peterson, “Unstable Elements,” World, September 5, 2010, 75.
[4] George Mair, A Life With Purpose – Reverend Rick Warren, (New York: Berkeley Books, 2005), p. 83.
[5] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1995), p. 268.
[6] Mair, pp. 3-6.
[7] Douglas B. Wicks, writing in the Preface, A. W. Tozer, The Radical Cross, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 2005, 2009), p. ix.
[8] Ibid., p. 3.
[9] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, quoted by Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Bonhoeffer+suffering&commit=Search (accessed March 4, 2016).
[10] Robert H. Schuller, My Journey, (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2001), pp. 127-128.
[11] Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, p. 226.
[12] Ibid., p. 216.
[13] A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1955, 2006), pp. 23-25.
