ShelfLife

To whom is the story of the Cross more relevant: believer or non-believer?

One of my struggles with “Christian living” has been viewing the story of the Cross as simply a ticket into a future event: heaven.  It has been kind of like the last concert I attended.  I had heard the story that my favorite band was coming to town, investigated the story, believed the story was true and used my hard earned money to purchase a ticket.  After I purchased the ticket, it didn’t really have much value to me until the day of the concert.  Yeah, every once in a while I would look at the ticket on my bulletin board and be reminded of this future event and have a little bit of excitement, but the ticket certainly didn’t have a dramatic change on the pattern of my life.

What struck me most about Keller’s message in chapter twelve was the Cross’ ability to influence the pattern of our life.  Having been in the church for 13+ years, I knew Christians were to be “different” and to not live like the “world”, but for some reason I never remember hearing that the basis for why we do this is the pattern of the Cross.

Those who are shaped by the great reversal of the Cross no longer need self-justification through money, status, career, or pride of race and class.  So the Cross creates a counterculture in which sex, money, and power cease to control us and are used in life-giving and community-building rather than destructive ways. – Pg 197

Sitting here right now, I think the story of the Cross is equally relevant to both the believer and the non-believer.  Yes, there is as benefit of the Cross that will be fully realized in the future, but that does not mean it should not be central to the life of a believer in the “here and now”.  I need the story of the Cross today just as much as my co-worker who does not know Jesus as his savior.  I believe the church will have the greatest impact in furthering the Kingdom of God by living the pattern of the Cross as opposed to only preaching the story of the Cross.