Here’s the verse I’ve been contemplating all week:

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1: 18 NIV)

Here’s the question I’ve also been contemplating all week:

Is the Church of Jesus Christ losing the message of the cross, and thus the power of God unto salvation?

Why do I ask?

No Crosses

It’s simple: there are some “Christian” bodies that no longer display the cross. I’m not going to name names. Why heavens! That would seem divisive, but you know what? Division in the body of Jesus Christ is exactly what the Apostle Paul was addressing when he introduced the message of the cross to the young church at Corinth.

So, yeah, let me name names.

Lakewood Church–that bastion of evangelical (?) Christianity in Houston, Texas–doesn’t display the cross prominently in its worship space.

They’re not the only one. Traditionally, Quakers do not display the cross (or any religious symbols) in their meeting houses. Additionally, many non-denominational churches have chosen to remove the cross from their worship spaces.

Why would they do that? They will tell you there are several reasons:

• Some would say they focus on the resurrected Christ rather than the crucified Christ (this would distinguish them from the Roman Catholics),
• Some would say that a focus on the cross is a form of idolatry and violates the second commandment,
• Some argue that the cross wasn’t used broadly as a Christian symbol until 300 years after the time of Jesus, so why use it now,
• Some say the cross is offensive to non-Christians, so to make non-religious people feel more comfortable, crosses should be removed.

It’s this last reason that gets me, and I’m wondering if it was what Paul was addressing as the first issue (among many) in their divisions of the Corinthian church.

The Offensive Cross

Look at what Paul says in verse 23:

²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

In the first century, crucifixion was the most shameful death imaginable — reserved for slaves and criminals. Romans themselves would never endure it.

So, telling people their Savior died on a cross was scandalous to Jews and nonsense to Greeks.

I fear that today people want a faith without a cross. We want inspiration without repentance, blessing without sacrifice. We want Christ without the crown of thorns. If that is what we want, that is what we’ll get, but we’ll miss the power of God unto salvation.

Paul says “the message of the cross…is the power of God.” Why is the cross God’s power? Because at the cross:

• The penalty of sin was paid.
• The power of sin was broken.
• The holy love of God was displayed.

We should never be ashamed of the cross. It is where justice and mercy meet perfectly. The message of the cross changes lives.

Smarter than the Cross

Rev. Shane Bishop had a Facebook post earlier in the week wherein he identified four viruses affecting the contemporary church. The third virus is that “we are suddenly smarter than everyone else who has ever read the Bible.”

Our propensity is to read the Bible in light of current cultural trends and bend the Bible to fit the current cultural climate instead of allowing the Bible to form us in light of the current culture. Culture will always change. Always has. Always will. The Word of God never changes. It is the enduring truth of the ages. I believe this is what the Apostle Paul is saying to the young church.

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1: 20 NIV)

We’ll never be able to outsmart God. Paul mocks our human arrogance. All our knowledge can’t help us find God. Our learning can make us clever, but it cannot make us right with God. Only the cross can do that! Education, without the power of the cross, just makes smarter sinners.

God’s plan of salvation was designed so that no one could claim special “knowledge” that led to salvation. It can’t be earned through human achievement. It is available to anyone and everyone who receives it by faith…it is God’s gift.

Look folks, everything we have comes from God through Jesus Christ. Paul evens ends his initial plea for unity with that truth:

³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV)

Paul says Jesus is the source of any wisdom we attain. Paul says Jesus is the One who places us in right standing with God. Paul says Jesus is the One who sanctifies us, and that He has purchased our pardon. It all happened on the cross.

If the Church of Jesus Christ would find its unity, it must do so, Paul says, in the message of the cross.

We can’t replace the Gospel message with clever ideas or popular cultural trends.

We can’t water down the “offense” of the cross. The message of the cross will always confront our pride.

We must remember that we are nothing and we have nothing apart from the cross of Jesus. If we boast, let our boasting be in Him.

The cross of Jesus is the power of God. Let us never lose His power. Let us never lose the cross.

Until next time, keep looking up…