Personal Background

Although this subject that has been on my mind for several months I have felt a type of spiritual paralysis recently which has kept me from writing on it. This morning however I sensed the Lord clarify some things in my heart imparting the faith to go forward.  What he instructed will become clearer as I continue.

Spotlight

In 1938 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was driving past the famous Wartburg castle where in 1521 Martin Luther, freshly sentenced to damnation by the Pope, translated the Bible into German. Appallingly, the great cross above the castle had been eclipsed by a monstrous flood-lit swastika. The centrality of Christ was being overshadowed by the cult of a single megalomaniacal personality, Hitler. Such a cult still obscures the cross, but in our modern Western societies it is the cult of every “me”.

The ceaseless marketing message is “you deserve it”, “you are the most important person in the world”. An unlimited world of experience has opened up through technology where I can create my own personal culture and identity[1]. The ultimate stronghold behind everything from riots in Greece to the right of gay marriage to the insipid selfish spirituality of our churches is the conviction that I know what is right for me. We have reached this tragic state of affairs in our post-Christian societies by rejecting the message of the cross (1 Cor 1:18).

Christ over All

In the revelatory order of God we must first see Christ crucified before we can see everything being made subject to him. The cry, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””(Mark 15:34 ESV) reveals that Jesus has abandoned all personal rights and is concerned only with the presence of the Father. He utters no cry of complaint about the pain, divine punishment or sin he is bearing in submission to God. Jesus’ humiliation precedes his exaltation for the Father can only elevate him because of his costly sacrificial obedience[2]. Since the direction of his life is wholly towards his Father, the Son is now the heir of all spiritual authority (Matt 28:18; Heb 1:1-3). This contains the lesson we all need to learn.

I am the Problem

One of the most popular texts of devout believers is Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” If however Christians were really living as people with crucified egos then the message of Jesus could not be so easily ignored in our day. Most of us lack spiritual authority in our own culture, but the core problem is easily explained.

The Times newspaper once asked a number of prominent authors to write on the topic: “What’s wrong with the world?”, the shortest reply was by an insightful Christian apologist.  “Dear Sir: Regarding your article ‘What’s Wrong with the World?’ I am. Yours truly,” G.K. Chesterton.

There seems to be no end of Christian books, courses, conferences and messages telling us what to do gain godliness, but none of them will ever help us grow to be like Christ unless they deal with the root of the problem i.e. ‘ME’

Crucified with Christ

Some years ago I stood before a congregation I was pastoring and said, “I am the problem in this church, the problem is me.” Things went from bad to worse because the centre of what I was saying was not Christ but ‘ME’. The Lord’s clear word to me today was: “Get your eyes off the sin in your life, it has already been crucified with Christ”. I had been deceived into focussing on my own sin rather than seeing it hanging there judged and rendered powerless once for all in Christ on the cross. No wonder I sensed a loss of spiritual authority.

Conclusion

The crisis of faith, discipleship and authority engulfing the Western Church has no resolution apart from a revelation that our best spiritual efforts are useless (John 6:63). To live with a crucified ego means to live from that part of my heart where I know Jesus is alive and active. This may very well include an awareness of sin, but it will be the Spirit’s testimony of sin defeated at the cross. The victory in all things belongs to Christ alone and we can add nothing to it (Rom 8:31-38). Such radical Christ-centredness in every sphere and experience of life has the authority to heal all the personal and corporate spiritual crises of our times.