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In my article Peace on Earth, I discussed Jesus’ words, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34) Immediately after this pronouncement, He explains some of the division that His gospel would cause. “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:35-36) Following this, He tells us the cost of Christianity. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39) In other Scriptures, He repeats His call to take up the cross, as a condition of Christianity.

Like other Christian terms, however, the “cross” has been widely misunderstood and misapplied. The first thing that I would like to direct our attention to is that there is one cross. It is not in harmony with the Scripture to speak of someone’s (or our own) “crosses.” Christ only mentions one cross. The things that occur in our lives are not crosses, nor are they the cross. If occurrences were the cross, then people could not be saved until they had gone through these things (it’s unlikely that someone could continue in the Christian life long without troubles, but it’s certainly possible to be a Christian during the brief period before the troubles start).

If we want to know what the cross truly means, it’s probably helpful to recall what people of that time period thought of when they heard of the cross. They didn’t think of the cross of Christ, because Christ had not yet died on the cross. Instead, they though of a torturous instrument of death. It’s unlikely that the disciples thought of anything else when they heard the word cross. When a prisoner took up his cross, he was lifting the very instrument on which he was condemned to die. When he took up his cross, it was to carry it to his death. He was on the road to destruction.

It’s unlikely that very many people ever took up the Roman cross voluntarily, but Jesus is calling us to take up the cross voluntarily. When we choose to take up the cross, we are choosing death, although not physical death. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3) When we choose the cross, we are choosing to allow God to purge self from our lives. When we are “alive” in sin, then we resist His purging, because it runs contrary to all our desires. But someone that is dead resists nothing, and that is what needs to be our attitude toward God’s work in our lives—no resistance, so that God can form us into whatever He desires, even though His work may be unpleasant to us. When we take up the cross, we are submitting to God’s will in our lives.

Someone who took up the Roman cross knew that trouble lay ahead. In the context of the Matthew 10 call to the cross, Christ is warning us of the troubles that lie ahead when we commit ourselves to Him. He doesn’t simply call us to “peace and happiness” and let us be surprised when troubles begin to come. Rather, He warns us ahead of time and lets us decide to follow Him knowing what the cost will be. In John 16:1, after warning the disciples that they would be persecuted, Jesus said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” When we take up the cross, we are committing ourselves to let all our desires, plans, hopes, and ambitions die, in order to follow Jesus. Unbelievers suffer, but when we bear the cross, we are focused on Jesus, not the suffering which focusing on Him may bring. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

God desires that we serve Him. But He doesn’t give us a false picture of worldly happiness; rather, He warns us of troubles in this life, and gives us true happiness in the world to come. When we commit ourselves to following Jesus throughout these troubles, we are taking up the cross. The cross is not the troubles, but rather our commitment to following Jesus, no matter what the cost. Are we willing to take it up?