Social Media Grenades vs The Way of Love

Almost a year ago,  I wrote Of Facebook Cannons and Twitter Bombs to examine how too many of us are seeking to right wrongs by weaponizing  our social media feeds to force change with those that have wronged us.  I ended with the line perhaps we need to live like Jesus and lead with love.

In that piece, I looked at the counsel Jesus gave in Matthew 18 on how to deal with those that have wronged us.  Sadly, many Christians totally ignore that counsel, and instead of airing their grievances with the person, they go straight to the Twitter feed or Facebook feed and call out, not just those that have wronged them personally, but those who merely irritate them or hold a view counter to their own.

I've observed on more than one occasion, even pastors, those who I'm certain must have read this passage at some point in their training, totally skipping over Jesus' very words of counsel and blasting other pastors on their social media platforms for the things that are contrary to the view of the one posting.  

In fact, some haven't been personally wronged at all! They merely disagree with what is being said in a sermon or a Twitter post, or in a meeting where something was said, and out come the social media grenades, hoping to blast that person and their opinions into oblivion.  

I just read a new one the other day and it greatly saddened me, and once again gave me cause to ponder.  And as I was pondering all these things the other morning, I decided to re-examine what God is calling us to as we deal with one another, especially fellow Christians. I wrote a Facebook post about what I found and incorporated part of it here.  Look at what Jesus Himself said to His disciples.  

John 15:12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have.

In this day and age of cancel culture, weaponized social media feeds and a polarized society on just about every front, it’s becoming harder and harder to like, much less love, those who are not like me, who think differently or who are sometimes just downright mean. Yet the command remains. 

To stay faithful as a follower of Jesus means we have to love others like Jesus loved. And it is impossible to do that unless we stay connected to Jesus. 

It’s like an electrical circuit. It is in connecting to Jesus and letting the love of Jesus flow into you so that it can flow from you to others that enable you to obey His command.

Perhaps you, like me, have found that loving others is easy to say, but hard to do. And as I seek to do that, I recognize that I can’t do it without the power of Jesus in my life. That’s why it is necessary to stay connected to the Source of Love. To (pardon the pun) stay grounded in His word.

Obeying His command to love, keeps me in His love because I recognize that there is no possible way I can do that on my own. Simply keeping the 10 commandments apart from loving others will do you no good. Jesus calls us to love as He loves. He doesn’t just call us…He commands us. Over and over. Check these verses where He reiterates it. 

John 13: 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

John:15:12-14 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

John 15: 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Are you seeing the theme emerging that Jesus was trying to get across to those of us who profess to follow Him? Yet many of us spend our time arguing, judging, and comparing...Even calling people out on our social media feeds, seeking to show others our disgust or disdain at what we consider to be their errant thoughts and ideas without ever following the council in Matthew 18. hmmm...

Perhaps it's time for a refocusing of our spiritual priorities and returning to our calling to love.
What was it Jesus said?  

Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.

The Bride of Christ has a Cutting Habit

As a pastor, I am weary. Not only of the whole Covid thing, or the political thing.   I'm  weary of wading through much of the stuff that gets sent to my inbox by well-meaning people that I love who are trying to "get me on their side" in hopes of using my influence to help gain a following. Yes, I'm weary of Christians who have forgotten their calling and have made it their mission to champion lesser callings even to the detriment of the other members of the church.

We Christians, have almost always, been our own worst enemies.  And many of us have ceased to promote the cause of God as we have been side-tracked promoting the causes of men.  And whenever that happens, division occurs in the church.

To be sure, there is already plenty to divide Christians, what with our doctrinal differences and understanding of the scriptures from our varying vantage points and ecclesiastic filters.  Differences of opinion have always existed, but they don’t have to divide us.  In fact, they can be learning points as we discuss and share our understandings with others and they with us.

It’s when we cease discussing and instead, begin yelling, both verbally and non-verbally, that the damage is done.  And let’s be clear, there is lots of damage being done to the Body of Christ right now by those inside it.   It is as if the Bride of Christ has become enmeshed in self-destructive cutting, seeking to do another part of the Body in, never realizing that cutting one part of the body always takes its toll on our own part of the Body.  We can’t build up our side while the other side bleeds out!  We are ONE BODY!

And to an on-looking world, we appear to be more and more psychotic, and the cause of Christ is dismissed as ludicrous and laughable.  And as the Body bleeds, it bleeds precious souls who can no longer stomach the infighting and the aggression shown by one part for the other.

Often, those are the souls of the young, who take the very life-blood of the Body with them.  They have enough Jesus that they want to hold on to Him, but want to distance themselves from His Bride because they either cannot make sense of the Church any longer, or they themselves have been led to take up lesser causes by those in charge.

This is not new, you know.  We find an interesting story recorded in the book of 1 Corinthians. The topic: Meat offered to idols.  Oh…it was divisive.  

“We are free in Christ!”, one would say, “and therefore it doesn’t matter that it was offered to idols!”   “But we have left idol worship and there is so much other food out there!  Why should we go back to eating that food?”  “You are just yielding to fear and not standing in your freedom in Christ!”  And the debate got so hot they finally asked Paul to weigh in.  And Paul approached it from a whole different angle than they were expecting.

1Cor. 8:4    So, what about eating meat that has been offered to idols? Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god and that there is only one God. ⁵ There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords. ⁶  But for us,

  There is one God, the Father,

by whom all things were created,

and for whom we live.

And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ,

through whom all things were created,

and through whom we live.

And those on the “freedom” side of the issue went…aha…see…WE were right!!  But Paul isn’t done yet. Let’s read on.

1Cor. 8:7    However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated. ⁸ It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.

Do you see where Paul is heading here?  And the next sentence is key here as we even look for application today.

1Cor. 8:9    But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble. ¹⁰ For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol? ¹¹ So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed. ¹² And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. 

And then Paul finishes with his own declaration—¹³ So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.

The principle is simple— Live your life in such a way that you seek to build other people into stronger believers. It means living as a Christian on a higher plane than just our own thoughts and beliefs.  It is taking others into consideration as we hold ourselves to a higher standard of seeking to be Christ-like in our behavior. It means humbly laying down our “rights” as humbly as Christ laid down His life.  

And yet, here we are a few thousand years later, and many of us have either never stumbled on this part of the Bible, or have forgotten this principle as we use the same logic and arguments of those in the world and seek to pummel those who oppose us into alignment with our beliefs about politics, the virus, masks vs. no masks and vaxx vs. anti-vaxx.   And when they refuse, we either redouble the direct attacks at them, or we (perhaps angrily or perhaps sadly) leave them and join others who believe like we on those topics, and talk about how ignorant, mislead and wrong the other side is.  And we forget that they are someone for whom Christ died.

While I’m not suggesting that you violate your own conscience in any way, I am suggesting that perhaps you could tone down the rhetoric when discussing them online, as well as in person, with someone who may not see things as you.  Where you may see a conspiracy or loss of freedoms, others are living in abject fear of a disease that has perhaps already taken a loved one from them.  To ridicule them for their fear doesn’t build up the Body of Christ.  It cuts it open.

And while you may believe that everyone should be wearing a mask, being critical, judgmental and dismissive of those who perhaps choose not to or see it as an invasion of their freedom also doesn’t build up the Body.  It cuts it open more.

Have you considered that it is pride that keeps us from even wanting to humble ourselves to help someone on the other side?  What if we were to humble ourselves, for the sake of Christ, and actually try to apply Biblical principles to the difficult situation that we face?

What if, for those who believe it is necessary to wear masks for the health of the whole community,  we were able to re-apply Paul’s words of 1 Cor 8:7 here?  Perhaps we could rephrase it to read:  “We don’t lose anything if we wear it and we don’t gain anything if we don’t wear it.”  In other words, wearing a mask is not necessarily the point, but what if, though I might not believe in their efficacy, I went ahead and wore one in public, not for MY sake, but for the sake of those who are fearful and just want to feel safe?  Could I further the cause of Christ by simply being considerate of others?  

And for those who would love to see forced vaccines, what if you were to go back and look at verse 12.  "And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ."

Christ’s way has never been one of force, or ridicule, or superiority, or battling of words or any of the things we employ as we seek to best our opponents, whether inside or outside the church.  His has always been a way of love and of choosing to humble oneself for the good of others, putting their needs ahead of one’s own.

Have we forgotten why Christ died and the message He entrusted to us?  It isn’t to politics, or to champion masks or vaccines that we are called.  We are called to so much more.  Ours is a calling that is to help people see that God loved so much that He sent His son Jesus to die because He was not willing for ANY to perish!

If we continue on, I fear that with each jab, stab or slice, more precious souls will continue to bleed out of the Body, leaving it weakened and dying.  And we are doing it to ourselves! We were meant for so much more.  Christ calls us to a higher level.  And if we continue to attack one another within the walls of the church, Christ’s sacrifice and message of Love is totally voided and nullified in the eyes of an onlooking world.

Though the commandments, the Sabbath, the Sanctuary and the Second Coming doctrines are all important, NONE of them are what Christ said would be His identifying mark of His followers.  There is only ONE identifying mark and we are missing it badly right now, Church.

John 13:35  “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

The left hand has to stop cutting on the right and the right has to stop slicing the left.  We are all ONE body.  Let’s take care of ourselves through the power of Christ and then get on with taking HIS message to a dying world because THAT is our true mission.

Philippians 2:5-11
5    You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6    Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
⁷  Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸  he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9    Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹  and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

I Am A Soldier

I was reading an old book the other day about the Huguenots, the Waldensians and others that tried to remain true to the commands of God during the Dark Ages, and the contrast  between them and us is absolutely incredible. 

Thousands died cruel deaths; burned at the stake, hurled over cliffs, hung up with meat hooks, starved in prison, and yet very few, if any, turned back from following God. 

Yet today, it seems the slightest thing can turn many of us back from following Jesus.  Our feelings get hurt, so we quit.   Our leadership gets criticized, so we quit.  A pastor doesn’t come visit us at the right time, so we quit.   We don’t want to get involved, so we don’t.   We are afraid to make our neighbor uncomfortable, so we don’t share.  Church doesn't suit our tastes, so we stop attending.  At the slightest hint of resistance, we turn back.  Could it be that the worst enemy the church has is prosperity?

I mentioned this to a friend in another state, and he sent me this piece which I think needs to be our rallying cry.  Read it and see where you stand.  It is entitled, I am a Soldier.

I am a soldier.

I am a soldier in the army of my God;

The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.

The Holy Bible is my code of conduct.

Faith, prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by

adversity and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this army and I have enlisted for eternity

I will either retire from this army at the Second Coming or die in this

army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out.

I am faithful, reliable and dependable.

If my God needs me, I am there.

If He needs me in Sabbath School to teach children, work with youth,

help with adults or just sit and learn, He can use me, because I am there.

If He needs me in church Sabbath morning, Vespers, Wednesday, revival or

special services, I am there.

I am there to preach, teach, sing, play, pray, work or worship.

God can use me because I am there.

I am a Soldier. I am not a baby.

I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or

pepped up.

I am a Soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me,

entice me or lure me.

I am a Soldier. I am not a wimp.

I am in place saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name

and serving in His Kingdom.

No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or give me

handouts.

I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or catered to.

I am a Soldier, and I am committed.

I cannot have my feelings hurt badly enough to turn me around.

I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside.

I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit,

When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing,

And if I end up with nothing I will still break even.

I am a Soldier, I am committed, I will win.

My God will supply all my needs.

I am more than a conqueror, I will always triumph.

I can do all things through Christ .

Devils cannot defeat me. People cannot disillusion me. Weather cannot

weary me. Sickness cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy

me. Governments cannot silence me and Hell cannot handle me.

I am a soldier. I am committed. Even death cannot destroy me.

When my Commander calls me from this battlefield He will promote me and

then bring me back to rule this world with Him.

I am a Soldier in the army and I am marching, claiming victory.

I will not give up, I will not turn around. I am a Soldier marching Heavenbound.

I am a Soldier. Will you stand with me?

If God is in it, you can do it.

2Tim. 2:3    Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  4 Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.

2Tim. 2:14     Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God’s presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them.

2Tim. 2:15    Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.  16 Avoid worthless, foolish talk that only leads to more godless behavior.  17 This kind of talk spreads like cancer.

Pastor Don accepts New Position

I have been on a personal journey, started by a conversation that I had in my leadership class 5 years ago, that brings me to this point. I was asked the question by my leadership instructor: "Where do you think God will lead you to spend the last years before your retirement that will utilize all of your passions, skills, abilities and experience to make the most impact on the church?" I had no idea. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know how I would find out!

His response was that I needed to pray about whatever burden God laid on my heart. He gave me until the next time we met to come up with a response. As I prayed about it, God laid the 60% of our SDA youth who are NOT in Adventist Education, on my heart. Who reaches them and who seeks to retain them? I began to reason from there. It has to be the local church and more specifically the local level youth leaders. But who supports the local level youth leaders? Hardly anyone. And just because you do local youth ministry better, doesn't mean that you have created a church environment that is enticing and/or even safe for students.

So that pulled things back another level. My burden enlarged to encompass the students, local youth leaders and the climate in the local church. Working with a church to improve the climate, working with the youth leader to custom design a youth ministry for their setting and helping students feel connected to a larger church body as well.

Then, as I pondered it further, the question came to me: But how will we know if we have been successful with a student? How will we know when they get to their young adult years that they a) really have a love for Jesus and b) feel like they belong in their church? Is there a spiritual growth path that we can put people on that would help them become disciple-making disciples? At what point do we need to focus in order to build solid, spiritual young adults? Earliteens? Youth?

Also, what about those students who, though they may have gone to SDA schools through high school, can't afford or choose not to attend an Adventist university? And the vision grew some more.

That's the dream God laid on my heart. But that job didn't even exist. I say didn't, because years ago, I left this dream in God's hands and told Him that if He wanted me to fulfill that dream, He would have to a) create a job that fit that description and b) call me to it.

Today, that happened. The Georgia-Cumberland Conference Executive committee voted that very job description into existence back in November, and today they officially offered me the position. And because God has been leading me towards this for the past 5 years, it was the next natural step for me to take in following Jesus. I would hate to be a pastor who tells others to follow Jesus while refusing to do so myself. So we are taking the next step. Sandy and I accepted the position.

It was not without a struggle because we LOVE our GCA Church family. It is our home. And I LOVE the students at GCA. They are MY kids!! Yet, I feel led to take the next step and must follow if I am to be true to God and myself. So that's the story...now here are the details.

I will continue pastoring the GCA church, even while beginning some of my responsibilities at the conference office, through May 31. June 1 to August 31, I will be taking a Sabbatical and begin writing materials to use in this next phase of my journey to help churches become more youth and young adult friendly places. Sept 1 I will officially begin in this new position at the conference.

We will NOT be moving. We will still need friends. We will still LOVE having students come over and hang out...and we will even be hanging out at GCA some. So though we are changing jobs, we are NOT changing communities.

Well...there it is. I didn't want to have to tell you all this news via e-mail, but since this is a home leave weekend, and next weekend is the music weekend, I was only left with this option in order that the conference could begin the process of finding a replacement for me here at GCA. I am so sorry. I wanted to share this with you face to face. As a result, I will be allotting a little time this Sabbath in church for the adults, and next Thursday's chapel for the students for any who may have questions for me.

Please know that I am NOT leaving because someone did something wrong. I am NOT leaving because someone hurt my feelings or is angry with me. I am NOT leaving because of major issues in the church...(as a matter of fact, I don't think we have any major issues at this point...but I may be blind to them) I am only leaving because I am trying to personally follow the call of God on my life just like I have been trying to teach you to do. And that's the ONLY reason I am leaving. I'm trying to become a better follower of God.

Please pray for Sandy and me as we make this transition. I love you all. I love this church. May we finish strong and then move on to wherever God leads.

Pastor Don​​

Who is the Greatest? or Am I Better Than You?

One of the most interesting and challenging statements of Jesus occurs just after the mother of James and John has asked that they be allowed to have the highest positions in Jesus’ coming kingdom.  Jesus responded that it was not his place to grant positions in heaven, but His Father’s.   But the mere asking really irritated the other disciples.  It annoyed them to think that someone was trying to get the top spots in the kingdom.  Not because they had anything against James and John, but because it would mean that they wouldn’t be in the top slot.

And so Jesus responds to the whole lot of them with one of the toughest teachings in the Bible.  It’s found in Matt. 20:25-28. 

V.25 Jesus called them together and said,  “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Notice that Jesus isn’t just suggesting here.  Notice that he isn’t merely hinting.  He is very straightforward in turning their pre-conceived ideas upside down with a new command that makes sense, but it doesn’t make sense all at the same time.  He is telling them that if they want to be great in God’s kingdom, they must be counter-cultural, go against the systems and structures set up by man, and become a servant.  They must strive for what we would call today, downward mobility.

I don’t think they cared much for the idea.  As a matter of fact, not long after this, they were traveling to Capernaum they began arguing quietly among themselves as they trudged the road behind Jesus.

Mark 9:33 ¶ They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them,  “What were you arguing about on the road?”

Mark 9:34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

It is ever upwards in their minds.  How do I get to the top?  How do I become numero Uno?  Is it possible to edge someone else out?  And we can’t finger point.  We do the same thing, don’t we? Oh, we know our place at work or school, but it isn’t without the thoughts, “Well, if I were running this show, I would…”  And it’s very easy to try and discount anyone who may be in authority over us.  We want to move up the ladder, to go higher and get better.  We want people to recognize that we are just a bit superior.  That we sure aren’t as ignorant or as back woodsy or as unsophisticated as those rednecks, or geeks or hillbillies.  No matter where you find yourself on the food chain, what do you do?  You look around to see who has it better and who has it worse.  And we can all say, “Well at least I’m not as bad as….” Or “If only I could…then I’d…”

Who’s the greatest?   That’s the question we are really asking.  Am I better than?  And Jesus’ response to His disciples might rattle our cage as well.

Mark 9:35 ¶ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said,  “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
They didn’t much like that…and neither do we.  We don’t much like the thought of downward mobility.  We sure don’t like the idea of going to the end of the line.  And if someone cuts in on us…it makes our blood boil.  Jesus ups the ante.

36 ¶ He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37  “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Great pastor Don, I have no problem welcoming little children.  It’s the teenagers that drive me nuts!  And what does this have to do with the church anyway?  I’m glad you asked.

One of the reasons the church has such a hard time allowing young people to participate is because we don’t want to lose control.  We reason that we had to pay our dues in order to gain leadership positions in the church, so they should have to pay theirs.  And as long as they haven’t paid theirs, they are subject to whatever we like, because, after all, we are on top.  How do you think Jesus would respond to that idea?  If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.  Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Not only are we welcoming Jesus when we determine to serve young people, but we are also welcoming God the Father and the Holy Spirit as well.  If we are to become a people who disciple young people, we must become servant leaders.  But what does that mean?

First of all, it means choosing a path of downward mobility.  Choosing to relinquish any rights I may think I have in the church, for the sake of winning others and discipling them.  It means making a conscientious choice to build into the life of another person.  It means being less concerned with me, and what I like, and more concerned with you and what will win you to Jesus.  Who is the greatest?

It still isn't me or you.  It isn't even the kids we serve.  It always has been and always will be Jesus. And He has called us to follow His example and go lower.  How will we respond?

Count the Cost?

Mark 8:34-37   Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.  36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

We have this innate desire built deep within us somewhere for life.  We will go to incredible lengths to preserve life. And we should.  Life is a precious gift, not meant to be thrown away.  But sometimes we will actually inhibit the enjoyment of living life for the sake of preserving it.  Have you noticed that? 

And though I know Jesus was talking about eternal life in the passage we just read, it seems that the more insurance companies try to preserve life, the less fully life can be lived. Whoever wants to save His life will lose it.

There is something within us that wants to live.  That wants to thrive.  That wants to go beyond the everyday humdrum existence.  We want our lives to be lived…well, fully alive.  We long for more than just the day-to-day.  So many of us live for the weekends.   And we pack our weekends with  “fun” and “excitement”.  And then we go back to work on Monday worn out, but ready to exist until the next weekend.  And often we spend our lives in a dull meaningless existence, only waking up on the weekends to do the things we enjoy.

So for many of us, when we hear the words “deny yourself”, we think “I already have.”  Because in the back of our minds, we might think of someone who has more than we.

But that’s not what Jesus is talking about here.  Let’s look at that word deny.  It means to refute, refuse and renounce.   If we are talking about denying ourselves, it doesn’t mean just doing without something that we want or stopping ourselves from buying it.  It’s much deeper.  I believe that Jesus is calling us here to refute even the desires, to refuse to entertain the thoughts and even going so far as to renounce that desire in the first place.  Why does He call us to this?  First, so they don’t become a hindrance in our walk with Him. Secondly, I believe it is so we can take the resources that He has provided us and utilize them to bless others for the sake of the kingdom.

So deny yourself.  As one writer put it—Live simply so that others might simply live.

Next come those words we especially don’t like.  Take up your cross. It sounds so harsh and difficult.  And sometimes it is.  But 15^th century Scottish Presbyterian theologian and author, Samuel Rutherford wrote: Christ's cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird.  I like that thought.

What Jesus is trying to do is free us from the expectations of the world.  He’s trying to help us realize that we don’t need to conform to the world’s demands, but instead, live life the way He designed us to in the first place.  Take up your cross simply means to live life in Christ, from God’s perspective and oftentimes counter-culturally.  This will mean that we will often be thought of as strange or bizarre, and Jesus said, the world may even hate us for it.

But Charles Spurgeon once wrote: “There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross- bearers here below.”

Whatever God allows you to bear, bear it with patience.  I’m not saying you can’t pray to be released from it, but like Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, we must come to the place where we are willing to pray, “Nevertheless—Not my will, but Yours be done.

If you try to save your life, Jesus said, you will lose it.  If you lose your life for the sake of the Gospel, you will find it.

Martin Luther said: A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.

Jesus never said the way would be without tears, or that it wouldn’t be hard at times.  But He did promise to be with us all the way to the end.  He promised that His very presence would hold us and carry us, no matter what we bear. 

Nathan C. Schaeffern puts things into perspective when he writes:

At the close of life, the question will not be,

"How much have you gotten?" but "How much have you given?"

Not "How much have you won?" but "How much have you done?"

Not "How much have you saved?" but "How much have you sacrificed?"

It will be "How much have you loved and served," not "How much were you honored?"

Jesus said we must count the cost if we are to be disciples.  How much will it cost?  Everything.  Your possessions, your family, possibly even your very life.  It’s the great irony of discipleship.  If you try to save your life, you’ll lose it.  If you lose your life for the sake of the gospel—if you invest your life for the sake of the gospel, instead of living it for yourself—you’ll save it.

Count the cost.   Deny yourself.  Take up your cross.  Follow Jesus.