The heavier cross

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10–11)

NewLife has never been much of an “Amen!” church the way some others are, with people shouting out “Amen!” or other words of agreement or encouragement throughout the sermon. But when I read Philippians 3:10-11, I can’t help but imagine Paul preaching these words to such a church:

“I want to know Christ (Amen!) – yes, to know the POWER of his resurrection (AMEN!!!) and participation in his sufferings (amen?), becoming like him in his death (…), and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.”

It is one thing to want to know and be like Christ and to desire to see His power at work in your life. But it is another thing entirely to want to know Christ so intimately that you embrace participating in His sufferings, even to the point of experiencing the betrayal, abandonment, and injustice of His painful death. This is the incredible attitude displayed by the apostles in Acts 5, after they were flogged and told by the Jewish Sanhedrin not to preach any more in the name of Jesus: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name [of Jesus]” (Acts 5:41).

One of my favorite books of prayer is The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. And one of my favorite lines comes from a prayer entitled “God and Myself,” which goes like this: “Whatever cross I am required to bear, let me see him carrying a heavier.” Jesus tells us that to follow Him will include picking up our cross and following Him (Matthew 16:24), i.e. suffering as we give ourselves sacrificially in service and witness to a world that is hostile to the gospel. And as we suffer, it is natural to complain, to pity ourselves, and to grow bitter at our lot in life, especially when we compare our situation to others that seem preferable to ours. But this prayer from The Valley of Vision invites us to take our eyes off of ourselves, to stop comparing our life to others, and to focus our vision on the Jesus we claim to be following, whose sacrificial suffering for us was exponentially greater than ours.

As Brennan Manning put it in his book The Signature of Jesus:

“On the night of December 13, during what began as a long and lonely hour of prayer, I heard in faith Jesus Christ say, ‘For love of you I left my Father’s side. I came to you who ran from me, fled me, who did not want to hear my name. For love of you I was covered with spit, punched, beaten, and affixed to the wood of the cross.’”

In this world, you will have trouble. You will suffer, and the cross you may be required to bear may feel, well, unbearable. I pray that God would give you the grace to see Him carrying an even heavier cross, out of love for you. May this vision of Jesus’ love for you strengthen you not only to persevere, but to rejoice because you have been counted worthy of suffering for the Name of Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1–3)