The tag on your shirt
Hanes markets a line of T-shirts with the trademark,
Tagless. American consumers found the
little tag that was stitched into the collar seam irritating, so the company eliminated
it, printing the label directly onto the shirt instead. Such a
small thing really, but we do love our comfort, don’t we? Here’s what I wonder: is our love of comfort hindering our ability
to know and serve Christ? He puts this
challenge to us. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23, NIV) Does this mean that those who are Christ’s
must just learn how to put up with the tag in their shirt? Is He asking us to
be a little better at dealing with life’s inconvenient situations than those
who are not disciples? If that is how
you read this truth that is so central to the Gospel, you have not yet grasped
the essentials of Christianity.
Francis Chan writes about how misunderstood Jesus’ words
are. “Taking up my cross has become a euphemism for getting through life’s typical
burdens with a semi-good attitude. Yet, life’s typical burdens – busy schedules,
bills, illnesses, hard decisions, paying for college tuition, losing jobs,
houses not selling, and such – are felt by everyone, whether or not they follow
the Way of Jesus. When Jesus calls us to
take up our cross, He is doing much more than calling us to endure the daily,
circumstantial troubles of life. The people of Jesus’ day were very familiar
with the cross. Having witnessed crucifixion, they under the commitment and
sacrifice of taking up a cross. It’s a call to radical faith. Jesus
is calling us to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the
sake of the Gospel.” – The Forgotten God
A Cross-centered life is a way of life that dethrones Self
with all its complaints about inconvenience and hard things, because it is a life centered on loving
God and others, finding delight in worship and God’s gifts for each day. If we love
personal convenience it is a red flag that we have not fully entered into the
Cross-centered life. Yes, if tagless
t-shirts are a big deal to us, it should alert us to a spiritual malady. More to the point, if we are short-tempered,
constantly critical of those who ‘fail to meet our standards,’ and rude - Self
is very much alive. Why? Because those
traits are evidence that we live with a ‘serve me’ orientation. Jesus, our Model, "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a
ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28, NIV) In short, His life found its true meaning in
the Cross; and so will ours.
After presenting us with the characteristics of the
Spirit-filled life; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentlenss, and self-control – the Word says "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." (Galatians
5:24, NIV) The fruit of the Spirit will
not grow in an orchard of Self! Only when that tree is cut down and a new one
is planted, will the true life of Christ flourish. Ah, this is the
Cross-centered life. Can you see how impossible it is to live such a life apart
from an ongoing transformational experience of the Cross and Christ
In my meditation on these facts, I am driven to my knees in
humility. I cannot live this kind of
life with any amount of determination.
No wonder the Scripture says that we must ‘die daily!’ Self is
persistent, but the Spirit is greater. Do you want to honor Christ in the best
and highest ways? Die to Self! Do you
want to find a life that is richest and best? Die to Self! Here’s the word from the Word. May the Spirit
bring us comprehension and grant us faith to receive it. ? "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, NIV)
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