the mystery that has been kept hidden
for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God
has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this
mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-27
ALL
UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED 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.
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 not as before.
The old
cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the
end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of
Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly
pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and
innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation
is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in
singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs
and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is
now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The new
cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The
evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be
received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into
public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands;
rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level.
Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is
cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious
product is better.
The new
cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner
anal jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it
says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says,
"Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrillseeker it says,
"Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian
message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it
acceptable to the public.
The
philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not
save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely
the whole meaning of the cross.
The old
cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human
being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road
had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going
out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared
nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to
keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had
finished its work, the man was no more.
The race
of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God
cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or
beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him
and then raising him again to newness of life.
That
evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways
of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith
of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we
do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The
corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We who
preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent
to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine
ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press,
the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and
our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
God
offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of
death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it
must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just
sentence against him.
What does
this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ
Jesus" How can this theology be translated into life" Simply, he must
repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself.
Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make
terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern
displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
