Crown without the Cross

The Tamil boy who took to crime from childhood , graduated to become a Naxalite and later a gang leader in distant Durgapur and nearby regions terrorizing the people, was able to live in luxury with the protection money and assets made through robbing and looting, became a penniless wanderer when he left prison and left his evil life behind accepting Christ as his saviour.

His interesting biography, From Captivity to Liberty narrates how he became powerless and broke and devoid of any clout once he rejected his old ways and took to the path of the cross. His old companions in crime was no longer afraid of him and even taunted him. While in such penury some of his old comrades advised him once more to take to arms.

Even during his 'criminal' life he would visit temples and other places of worship and would put money in donation boxes. It was also his custom to visit a particular temple and pray to the goddess for success while on his way to robbing and looting!

Looking back, he is astonished at that kind of devotion. Unfortunately there are those who still take to faith with a desire to curry favour with God and rise in career and wealth or fulfill every other wish.

To such a person 'taking up the cross daily' will be too burdensome. And Christ's statement in Matthew 16: 25 "For whosoever desires to save his life will lose it , but who-ever loses his life for My sake will find it"

He had also warned: 'In the world you shall have tribulation!' Should we ex-pect an easy time here? For all the good He did, He was given the death of a criminal. Do we deserve anything better? Should we be surprised by the persecutions? We will have our share of struggles but with His help we will overcome them.

No one likes to be a loser. Many come to Him with a view to gain. Did He not say " I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly" But the abundant life is not simply worldly prosperity, though He bestows great riches on some while keeping some others in meager circumstances. Neither prosperity nor the lack of it is proof of His blessing!

The Christian is called to be a witness and as light and salt of society he ought be a blessing rather than seeking things for himself. He is given a new spirit and a new heart. The carnal mind is at enmity with God and is put away by the operation of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

But the birth pangs of the new life are painful. The process of dying to self is not an easy one. But you have 'exceedingly great and precious promises' (1 Peter 1:4) through which you can escape the corruption of this world and be a partaker of the divine nature. This is one of the great possibilities of a believer.

Another one : "Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do , because I go to My Father." (John 14:12) This is the great potential of a man of faith. But working miracles or making great sermons or doing exploits for the Lord may not be the great aim one should be striving for. The aim should be to let the Lord's Spirit to work in you and through you. "Christ in you the hope of glory!!"

And isn't it a pity that many of our Christian leaders – and even those who are not leaders- seek the glory from mere men who are just like grass which withers in the evening? It is no longer a secret that the struggle for power and position in churches and Christian institutions is causing a stink and turning people away from the Christian faith. Christ is defamed in public before gentiles! It is time to repent and turn to the One who can forgive us.

Anna Hazare says he lives in a temple. He doesn't own anything, He has one meal a day. No, I am not projecting him as a role model. But how many among Christians can reach that level of renunciation? We are exhorted not to love the world every Sunday. But has that wisdom entered into our being? See what spiritual power he could muster for an earthly causeâ€"even a poor cause that stands little chance of realization!!

We announce that we hold a greater Truth within us than what an Anna Hazare or even a Gandhi is capable of. But we have failed to demonstrate the power in our lives. Yes one Mother Teresa did so for the world. We are all church going Christians in our Sunday best; yet how are we different from those who do not go through that ritual?

Looking at the state of present day Christianity, A W Tozer (1897-1963) made very telling comments in his books. A pastor for more than three decades and a celebrated Christian author, his writings are inspiring and illuminating. One of the gems from his writings: "Christ calls men to carry a cross; we call them to have fun in His name. He calls them to forsake the world; we assure them that if they but accept Jesus the world is their oyster.

He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the bourgeoise comforts modern civilization affords. He calls them to self abnegation and death; we call them to spread themselves likegreen baytrees or perchance even to become stars in a pitiful fifth-rate religious zodiac. He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers."

What we see in many churches today is 'Christianity made easy!' And another contemporary theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) had this to say: 'A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgement through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.'