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.
Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen
Saviour, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and
power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to
the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises
him to a new life along with Christ.
To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private
view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon
this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these
exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has
brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics,
the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs
and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to
God's approval.
Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth?
Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or
alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach
the old cross and we will know the old power.
This was taken from "Man - the dwelling place of God" by A.W. Tozer - a man of God.
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