14But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
The cross is more than a symbol, more than an adornment on top of a church building or in a sanctuary, although those expressions do point powerfully to Christ. But, we testify to the power of the cross by the way we live our lives. The Bible tells us that we have been crucified with Christ, and we are called to put to death the deeds of the old nature, the works of the flesh, and to put on the new creation that God has worked in our lives. The cross represents a message of hope - freedom from the old and the promise of the new. The cross is a bridge to a new life in Jesus Christ. He took the pain and shame, he suffered death on that cross, so that we might enter into the bright promise of life eternal with Him.
In 1st Corinthians chapter 1, we see a passage that addresses the power of the cross, but also the propensity of our message to separate us from those who will not believe:
18For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.20Where is the wise man ? Where is the scribe ? Where is the debater of this age ? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world ?21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.22For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom ;23but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Late last year, the National Bank of Slovakia announced that the European Commission, the executive arm of the burgeoning European Union, had ordered it to remove halos and crosses from special commemorative euro coins due to be minted this summer. A local artist had designed the coins to celebrate the 1,150th anniversary of Christianity’s arrival in Slovak lands. But, as the New York Times highlights, they have instead become tokens of the faith’s retreat from contemporary Europe. They featured two evangelizing Byzantine monks, Cyril and Methodius, their heads crowned by halos and one’s robe decorated with crosses, which fell foul of European diversity rules that ban any tilt toward a single faith.
Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky stated, “There is a movement in the European Union that wants total religious neutrality and can’t accept our Christian traditions." Gudrun Kugler, director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians, said, “There is a general suspicion of anything religious, a view that faith should be kept out of the public sphere,” adding, "There is a very strong current of radical secularism.” She said that this affects all religions but is particularly strong against Christianity because of a view that “Christianity dominated unfairly for centuries” and needs to be put in its place.
The article points out that church attendance is falling across Europe as belief in God wanes and even cultural attachments wither. The Continent’s fastest-growing faith is now Islam. In Britain, according to a poll last year, more people believe in extraterrestrials than in God. In the European Union as a whole, according to a 2010 survey, around half the population believes in God, compared with over 90 percent in the United States.
The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe slowed the secular tide somewhat as the European Union began to admit new and sometimes deeply religious countries like Poland and Romania. But when Europe set about drafting a constitution in the early years of the last decade, demands that Europe’s Christian heritage be mentioned ran into bitter resistance and were eventually dropped. The religious question resurfaced again with the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which skipped any reference to Christianity and instead paid tribute to the “cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe.” Previously, the 1951 Treaty of Rome and other founding texts of what is today the European Union make no mention of God or Christianity.
The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe slowed the secular tide somewhat as the European Union began to admit new and sometimes deeply religious countries like Poland and Romania. But when Europe set about drafting a constitution in the early years of the last decade, demands that Europe’s Christian heritage be mentioned ran into bitter resistance and were eventually dropped. The religious question resurfaced again with the 2007 Treaty of Lisbon, which skipped any reference to Christianity and instead paid tribute to the “cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe.” Previously, the 1951 Treaty of Rome and other founding texts of what is today the European Union make no mention of God or Christianity.
The Times piece is entitled, "A More Secular Europe, Divided by the Cross". I had to think about that passage I read earlier from 1st Corinthians 1 that describes the cross and its message as "foolishness" to those who will not believe. We have to understand that we live in an increasingly secularized world, and there are distinct groups of people, as highlighted in this piece on the division in Europe. There are those who believe in secularism, a culture devoid of religion. You also have those who want to pay homage to the religious traditions, the Christian symbols of the past. There is a rise in Islam throughout the continent. And, there is a small group, a remnant if you will, of devoted Christian believers who see the cross as relevant to today's culture and not an icon to be relegated to a coin or a deserted church building.
And, that's the camp that I want to be in. How do we uphold the teachings of Christ and the power of the cross in an increasingly secular society? The power of the cross is not necessarily transmitted through ancient icons, or even a Christian symbol around our neck, on a t-shirt, or on a catchy bumper sticker, although those are all ways that can point to Christ. But the most powerful communication of the cross is the way we live our lives, testifying to the cross by our radiance of His love.
Yes, the cross is a dividing line, and it seems the line is becoming more and more pronounced. But, the cross is also a bridge through which souls who do not know God can come into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. We can be challenged to bring the hope of the gospel and the transformational power of the cross as we allow Him to be our life.
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