By A.W. Tozer
ALL
UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross
into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the
likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.
From
this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that
new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a
new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the
old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.
The
old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant
the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law
of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a
friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good
clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His
life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he
takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of
singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment,
though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.
The
new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The
evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be
received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into
public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands;
rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level.
Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is
cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious
product is better.
The
new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a
cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the
self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the
egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the
thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship."
The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order
to make it acceptable to the public.
The
philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not
save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely
the whole meaning of the cross.
The
old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a
human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the
road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was
going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing,
spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try
to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it
had finished its work, the man was no more.
The
race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape.
God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear
or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him
and then raising him again to newness of life.
That
evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways
of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith
of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we
do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The
corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.
We
who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents
sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine
ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press,
the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and
our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.
God
offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of
death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it
must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just
sentence against him.
What
does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in
Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must
repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself.
Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make
terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern
displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.
Having
done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Saviour, and from Him
will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the
earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised
Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.
To
any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of
truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from
Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has
been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world
through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put
their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy
Ghost gave witness to God's approval.
Dare
we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with
our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown
us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the old cross and we will know
the old power. (A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)
