How ridiculous the claim from atheists and other religions in their denial of Jesus’ resurrection, suggesting instead that his body was actually stolen from the tomb by the disciples as part of some elaborate hoax. All done in an attempt to fool the world into believing Jesus rose from the dead. For even if they had been able to pull off this impossible feat, why would they want to? What would be in it for them? Fame? Wealth? Power? It’s a ridiculous claim because, what they got out of it was to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, a life destined for rejection, pain, personal sacrifice, and for many, a brutal death. They got to take up their cross and follow their Saviour.  

Why then do Christians hold the cross as central to their faith? What does Jesus mean when he asks us to take up our cross and follow him?

Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’ (Mt 16:24-26)

As Christians, what should be our obsession?

The late John Stott suggests, ‘Let others be obsessed with money, success, fame, sex, or power; [let] those who follow Christ be obsessed with him and with his cross.’

The way God establishes his kingdom is often in stark contrast to the plans for victory set up by human beings; the way of the world. God inverts our natural tendencies to usurp others in power and instead chooses the way of suffering and death, the way of the cross. Have we really come to terms with this fact? In the call to take up our cross and follow him, are we ready for what Jesus is asking?  

Presbyterian minister R.C. Sproul once proposed, ‘This is the great wall of separation, the great divide between godliness and godlessness. For the godly person is the one who is deeply concerned about the things of God, but the godless person is preoccupied by the things of this world.’   

Thank God, however, that while we fail constantly, God in his grace can even cause a camel to go through the eye of a needle, making the impossibility of saving us possible because of his work on the cross.   

It’s interesting (although not surprising) that in over twenty-five years in Education, I’ve never seen a Christian school build a marketing campaign on Matthew 16:24-26. Imagine driving through the suburbs, you see a billboard and it reads, ‘We teach the way of the cross, a school where human dreams are laid aside, the self is crucified, the gospel is proclaimed in all its fullness and students are ridiculed by the world for the sake of Christ! Now taking enrolments for 2027.’

From a worldly perspective, is there anything less appealing than the call to take up your cross and follow in the footsteps of Christ? For a start that would mean standing up for what is right according to what God teaches us in his Word. Divisive issues such abortion, sexuality, marriage, euthanasia, immigration policy, and gender identity would surely drive deep wedges between the church and the world, even potentially between Christians and their own families.

When God’s Word contradicts societal norms, what will we who claim to follow Christ do? Because there is a cost to these things. It’s here, in crossing this dividing line, that we will experience at least a little of the contempt that the world shows for Christ. Paradoxically and ultimately, however, this is a good place to be!  

Consider Jesus’ warning, ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first?’  (John 15:18)

And soon after he also said, ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’  (John 16:33)

There are many stories of courageous Christians who have taken up their cross and paid a heavy earthly price for it. These are the stories we must never forget. These are the stories that say, there’s just no way that Jesus is something people make up to feel better about themselves.

In today’s world, Nigerian churches certainly stand out as examples of what it means for Christians to take up their cross, no matter what. The stats speak volumes. Somehow, they’re both disturbing and inspiring at the same time. According to the organisation ‘Open Doors’ there are eighty-seven million Christians living in Nigeria. Of these about five thousand have been reported killed over a twelve-month period. That’s an average of thirteen per day, or more than one every hour.

Often those killed die because, when given an ultimatum to deny Christ or die, they refuse to denounce their faith. They get it!

And here’s the amazing thing. Somehow the church in Nigeria continues to grow as the gospel is lived out in the harsh face of persecution. This is a church who is willing to die in order that it may live.   

May we Christians, particularly from the West, have just a fraction of Nigerian Christian courage, the courage to take up our cross and follow Jesus who died for us! Let us embrace the promises of God made accessible through his faithful journey to the cross, promises that far outweigh any hardships we face in this life, even though it may not feel like it at the time.  

^‘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)