Nothng but the Cross!

For I decided to know nothing among you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Apostle Paul, 1 Cor 2:2

To many, even in the church today, the cross has become an offence. Sure, they claim that they do believe in the work of the cross. But, my question is what place does the cross take up in the preaching of these churches. Is the cross the central point of their existence, the way that the Bible portrays it? The cross is the culmination of all of salvation history. It is the focal point of all that the Old Testament era was pointing to.

Just as an example of a church that claims that the cross is central in its message. This church is having an Easter weekend celebration starting today (21 March 2008). Apart from the morning and evening services today, they are also having workshops during the day from Friday to Sunday. Workshops on marriage, our past (healing emotions), our future, our friends, etc.

From the list of workshops available, not one deals with the cross and its implications. Not one! And, there are 13 workshops. This omission says way more than the list of workshops do.

If it weren't for the cross, we would all be still in our sin. I would say that makes the cross, and the death that Christ died for the elect a very serious and central matter in Christianity!

However, what we preach about the cross is just as essential as the cross itself. Sure, many are preaching the cross, but they have removed the essentials of the message of the cross. They have removed the offense of the cross (Gal 5:11). Once we remove the offense of the cross, we are no longer preaching the cross.

Without rehashing what I have said before, I would like to point you once again to my article, "What is the Gospel? What is the foundation to the gospel?"

Please, think about the cross, and make it central to your life and message. Yet, not a cross without the cruelty that Christ suffered, or without the horror of sin, that took Him to the cross!