The Way of the Cross in a Success-Driven Culture

Dr. Gary T. Waldecker

Although God’s people are delivered from judgment through Christ, we now walk the way of the cross as we follow in the footsteps of the Savior. This has important implications for how we go about doing the mission of the church.

We now have the privilege of suffering for Christ (Philippians 1:29). We don’t enjoy it, but we rejoice in the midst of it because it makes us more like Jesus (Romans 5:1-5). Paul says, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.” (2 Corinthians 4:10). He also says, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Colossians 1:24). This doesn’t mean that what Christ suffered on the cross wasn’t enough to pay for our sins. It means that Paul has the privilege of imitating Jesus in his death and resurrection (Philippians 3:10). It means that Paul, like all believers, walks the way of the cross.

The Lord uses the weakness, suffering and death of his people “for the sake of the church” and for the spreading of his kingdom. The life and glory of Jesus are revealed to the world when we trust him—not so much to keep us from weakness, and suffering or to prosper us, but even in the midst of weakness and suffering. That’s why Paul gloried in his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) and said, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” He didn’t say you have to go through a period of weakness before the Lord will finally make you successful. Rather, strength and weakness always go together until the second coming. Kingdom progress comes in the midst of weakness.

We are called to walk the way of the cross, but the culture in which we live makes it very difficult for us to understand the meaning and the biblical normality of this way of life. As individuals we may have an excellent relationship with the Lord, and still find our faith limited by the cultural pressure around us that understands only success and achievement.

Even though we know better when we stop to think about it, we nevertheless find ourselves giving greater respect and honor to those pastors or missionaries who are “successful.” We want to imitate their practices so we can also be successful. We look to those mission fields that are “successful” to lead the way. We give them greater publicity and direct more resources their way. We look around at other organizations that are being successful so we can identify the “best practices.”

The assumption is that if you are successful (and espouse the right doctrine, of course) you must be blessed of the Lord. You must be more spiritual than those who are not quite as successful. This is where the Lord is at work. Blessed are the successful for they will be called the children of God.

This sounds a lot like the disciples who were amazed when Jesus said it was impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Their assumption was that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing. So if it’s impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom, what hope do the poor have?

If they were overawed by riches, maybe we are overawed by success. I wonder if Jesus would say to us, “I tell you the truth, it is impossible for a successful man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

This is not meant to excuse those who are lazy in their work or to condone the placement of people in situations that don’t fit their gifts. Nor is it necessarily a criticism of those who are “successful.” Those are other issues. My purpose here is to stir up some thinking, passion and action about the mission of the church and how we carry it out.

The cultural air we breathe, with its praise of achievement and success, may be more deeply embedded into our mission and church growth practices than we realize. It encourages us to focus on getting churches up, running and growing—successful—with the result that we don’t have time to invest deeply in fellow believers. Church leaders are too busy insuring that all the programs and activities of the church function smoothly to take seriously Paul’s statement in Ephesians 4:11ff that the task of church leaders is to invest in church members so they can carry out the church’s ministry. On the other hand, church members are too busy with their jobs and other activities to allow the leaders to invest in them.

The term Paul uses to describe the task of the leaders is “equip.” In our circles we tend to reduce the meaning of this word to transmitting biblical information through teaching classes and preaching. As important as these are, I don’t believe they exhaust the meaning of the word “equip,” which has to do with making us complete. The benediction in Hebrews 13:20 uses the word this way when it asks God to “equip you with everything good for doing his will.” God equips his people, not only by giving us his Word, but also through the mighty works of salvation he has accomplished on our behalf and through his daily providential involvement with us. He has also sent his Spirit to be with us in a very personal way.

Taking time to truly invest in people leaves less time to get other things done. If church leaders focus on investing in people so that they carry out the ministry of the church, many things will move along more slowly. The church may not look as successful as it would if the leaders just did the important things themselves. Those who take the time to invest in people may have to give up our culture’s bestowal of the title “successful.”

The influence of our culture’s priorities on success and achievement can be seen in our midst in various ways. How else do you explain the state of affairs in which a denomination that is in many ways thriving and successful has very few adult baptisms? Church members have no time to get to know unbelievers well enough to evangelize them. Why is it that prayer meetings are so poorly attended? Is it that we don’t feel an urgent need to pray? Are we satisfied in our success? Why do most prayer meetings consist mainly of Bible study and fellowship? While it is certainly good to pray for health, jobs, and situations that need fixing, why do most prayer meetings focus almost exclusively on these things?

At the end of his ministry, Jesus was judged by many to be a failure. He was put to death! But he had invested in a handful of men through whom, on the basis of his death, resurrection and ascension, he would change the world. Taking the time to invest in people usually doesn’t leave enough time to do those things that will create an image of success. People might think you are weak. But it’s then that the power of Christ rests upon you.