Holding the Cross: Let Allegiance to Christ Shape Ordinary Decisions
Following Christ reaches beyond a visible symbol. Examine the cost you're avoiding, speak with gentleness, and let allegiance guide an ordinary faithful choice.
#319 — Holding the Cross
Apr 22, 2024
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Let the encounter ask a question
James Stoner told of stopping to speak with a man holding a wooden cross beside a road. The conversation led to an invitation to hold it for a while. James accepted, knowing that the people passing would not all receive the gesture in the same way. Some welcomed the visible message; others plainly did not. What mattered to James was his willingness to express something important to him.
His account left me examining my own response. Would I appreciate the effort or dismiss it before hearing the person? The particular method isn't a command for every Christian, but the question of what we're willing to face for Christ deserves an honest answer. The encounter brings attention to a broader issue: whether our allegiance to Christ remains mostly private because we have thoughtful reasons, or because we are reluctant to face inconvenience and disapproval.
Hear what taking up the cross means
Matthew 16:21–27 places taking up the cross alongside Jesus' announcement of suffering and death. Peter resists, and Jesus corrects a concern centered on human preferences. Discipleship asks us to follow the Lord even where his way doesn't protect the life we would have chosen. The call to self-denial belongs within that setting. Following the Lord can't be reduced to protecting the kind of life we would have chosen independently of Him.
A wooden cross can remind someone of Christ, but carrying it isn't the whole obedience Jesus describes. We can display a symbol while refusing a command. We can also follow faithfully at real cost without ever using that particular public gesture. Another person may never carry one yet follow Him at substantial cost. The passage includes willingness to lose one's life rather than deny the Lord; its seriousness reaches beyond a moment of social awkwardness. Read the command as a claim upon allegiance, decisions, and endurance, including circumstances far more demanding than the illustration.
Examine the easy dismissal
An unfamiliar method can give us a quick reason to dismiss someone's effort. Sometimes there's a real concern to examine. Sometimes our dislike of the method keeps us from asking whether the person is sincerely trying to do something good. Sometimes the concern is legitimate. Sometimes it provides a convenient reason to avoid asking whether the person is attempting a good thing with a sincere heart.
I can remember judging visible expressions of faith with more confidence than my knowledge deserved. That doesn't make every method wise, but it should make me slower to announce another person's motive. Hear the purpose and the message before deciding you've understood the whole situation. Ask what you actually know. Have you heard the person's purpose and message? Are you evaluating a real problem, or assuming motives? A fair response can recognize sincere intention while still asking careful questions about accuracy, wisdom, and the responsibilities involved.
Be discerning and generous
Matthew 5:14–16 calls for good works that help people glorify the Father. Matthew 6:1–4 warns against doing right in order to win praise. Public visibility can serve a faithful purpose, and it can also feed a motive we need to correct. These teachings belong together. Public visibility isn't automatically hypocrisy, and a religious appearance doesn't automatically prove a sincere motive. The purpose of the conduct matters.
We can't read another person's heart perfectly. We can examine the message and conduct by Scripture, ask questions, and apply the same standard to our own familiar methods. Fairness includes refusing to make novelty suspicious while giving every comfortable practice an automatic pass. A friendly conversation may uncover something worth appreciating or something that needs patient correction. Familiarity can hide self-promotion just as novelty can draw suspicion. The aim is to honor God truthfully, with the generosity and carefulness that you would want others to bring to your efforts.
Name the cost you're avoiding
Sometimes an opportunity really doesn't fit our responsibilities. Sometimes we simply don't want the uncomfortable conversation. Be honest about the difference. A full schedule can become a permanent explanation for why no act of encouragement or service ever seems possible. Having responsibilities isn't a failure of faith. Yet convenience shouldn't become a permanent explanation for why there is never time to encourage, teach, or help anyone.
Think about an opportunity you actually have, rather than the most dramatic act you can imagine. A visit, a Bible conversation, or an honest answer may cost an evening or some comfort. Name the cost that makes you hesitate so you can consider it truthfully. Such actions may require rearranging an evening or admitting that you don't know every answer. A modest action done sincerely can expose an important barrier.
Speak to a person with care
First Peter 3:15–16 joins explaining our hope with gentleness, respect, and a good conscience. Courage belongs with careful treatment of the listener. The person isn't an audience supplied to demonstrate our boldness; they are someone whose questions deserve real attention. We can speak directly while remaining willing to hear a question we didn't expect.
Offer an invitation plainly and leave room for an honest answer. If a question needs study, say so and return with what you've learned. We can be direct about the gospel without turning either disagreement or discomfort into a performance of how brave we are. A public gesture can't substitute for explaining the gospel when an opportunity arises. Nor should a disagreement become an occasion to prove that we can endure hostility while ignoring whether our own manner helped create it. Faithful speech should be truthful, patient, and accountable.
Bring Christ's authority into the week
Colossians 3:17 puts words and deeds under the Lord Jesus with thanksgiving. That reaches the ordinary week, including choices nobody will call a public expression of faith. Attaching Christ's name to a preference isn't the same as letting his authority direct it. It should affect ordinary decisions about truthfulness, work, relationships, and service as well as our conduct when assembled with other Christians.
Where does his teaching conflict with the response you'd prefer? You may need to correct a claim or decline something wrong despite pressure to join in. Quiet obedience can involve real self-denial, especially where the people involved have grown used to your old response. Galatians 6:2 adds the responsibility of bearing one another's burdens. Helping another believer may require attention when you would rather withdraw into your own plans. These choices don't attract the same notice as a roadside cross, but they can involve real self-denial. The question is whether Christ's will carries weight when your immediate preference points elsewhere.
Choose and continue a faithful action
Luke 9:23 brings taking up the cross into daily life. One impressive moment doesn't finish our allegiance to Christ. Choose something specific enough to carry out, and stay humble enough to receive help when faithful follow-through is harder than the first intention. Faithful living requires continued response to the Lord, including quiet days when no public recognition is likely.
Name the responsibility and pray about the strength and wisdom it needs. Then make the call, arrange the study, or correct the wrong. Respect legitimate duties and safety while refusing to use them as a general excuse for every faithful action you've postponed. Respect safety and other legitimate responsibilities; recklessness isn't a requirement of courage. Then continue beyond the first action. The roadside story is memorable because it prompted an honest question. Let that question lead beyond a reaction to someone else's method and into a truthful examination of your own willingness to deny yourself and follow Christ. You might also tell a trusted Christian what you intend to do and ask for encouragement. Such accountability is useful when it helps you obey rather than perform for approval. If the first effort exposes a weakness, acknowledge it and learn. The responsibility remains worthwhile even when carrying it out is less impressive than you imagined.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What cost is making me hesitate over a faithful responsibility?
- 02Have I dismissed someone else's effort before understanding it?
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