Crown of Thorns

 Like most Christians in America, I have had a pretty easy time. The troubles I had in the past were often caused by my own ignorance or immaturity. (See OMG! It’s Me) I have certainly not suffered anything for my faith like many of our brothers and sisters around the world. A number of circumstances in the last year or two have made me evaluate my progress toward becoming more like Christ as we are commanded to do. WWJD is still a relevant question.

One of the more difficult traits Jesus demonstrated was the ability to perfectly fulfill His Father’s purpose for His life. Even though Jesus is described as meek and humble, He did not run away from confrontation or compromise when His detractors pressured Him. He ultimately stood before the Sanhedrin and took their abuse, after which He bore the worst the Romans had to offer by enduring flogging and finally crucifixion. Before He was subjected to the final insults by the civil and religious leaders, He had made some cryptic statements to His disciples that were made painfully clear by His obedience “to the point of death.” Legend says that each of the disciples except for John met a similar end as a result of their obedience.

When Jesus said His disciples would necessarily take up a cross to follow Him, it was more than a nice metaphor. It pointed to a reality that included potential suffering along the way and death at the end of the journey. Peter and John, after being flogged by the Sanhedrin for preaching Jesus, “went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Paul spoke of suffering for Christ as a privilege and a necessary aspect of his own sanctification. James recommended rejoicing in the presence of trials. There are very few examples in the New Testament of believers having a good time following Jesus at parties, campfires and cruises to the Holy Land.

I like to joke that if people think following Jesus is going to be a bed of roses, they should be reminded that roses have thorns. In Jesus’ final discourse on the night He was betrayed, He told His closest followers, “In the world, you will have affliction, but have courage; I have conquered the world.” There is a passage in Isaiah that people like to recite for comfort in times of trouble, but it begins with a less than comforting word: “When you pass through the waters… when you walk through fire….” God said “when,” not “if.” We are promised protection in and through not from affliction.

I have just finished reading N.T. Wright’s book, Surprised by Hope. One of his main points is that many Christians think salvation is about “going to Heaven when I die.” I will write more about this in a future post, but for now I must admit that Wright’s point is well-taken. Many believers have an escapist mentality. Their hope in Christ is a future hope of a blissful existence in some indescribable, ethereal place that has no connection with present reality. The most they hope for until then is health, prosperity, and deliverance from trouble in their lives. That is not what Jesus promised, nor is it anything like the experience we read about in the book of Acts or the letters to believers in the New Testament.

Since believers are called to love and obey their Master and daily become more like Him, it would be well to consider the outcome of His perfect obedience to the Heavenly Father’s will. Yes, Jesus Christ did eventually earn a crown of gold for His troubles, but first He wore a crown of thorns. As I said before, taking up a cross to follow Jesus is not an invitation to a party; it is a stark reminder of what following Jesus may cost.

Believers in the West, especially in America, have had a mostly comfortable time for two or three centuries. The current political and social situation has caused some of us to think that the days of easy-believism are passing away. The pleasant crowns we are promised for discipline and obedience are in fact, “in Heaven when we die.” Until then, the “ruler of this world” whom Jesus conquered may have a thorny crown or two waiting for the faithful. Jesus warned His disciples of what was to come, “so that in Me you may have peace.” That’s the key: our peace is in Christ, not in escaping the troubled circumstances we must inevitably endure.

Keep your eyes on Christ, and you can say with Paul, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Don’t look around; look up. Now if I could just figure out how to do confrontation like Jesus did…

Related posts: Disagree Agreeably; Loving Biblically