The countercultural way of the cross

A brief reflection on Christianity’s most momentous days

Many years ago, we had a pastor whose theme word was “countercultural.” Whether he preached about love, forgiveness, ethics, or sexuality, that word frequently showed up somewhere in the message.

It’s a good word to define Christianity, but especially to define Good Friday.

If you wanted to stop the conflict in Ukraine, Gaza, the Congo, or Myanmar, you probably would not say, “I think I’ll send my son there and have him killed, and that should solve the problem.”

But that is what God did. And such an act is profoundly countercultural. The creator of the world should act with power and certainly should not suffer. Jesus, for a brief but agonizing time, did the opposite.

In our gratitude to God, we too should be countercultural.

We should expect to suffer, and we should be ready to embrace suffering as a means of honoring God. That does not mean tolerating injustice, but it means rejoicing if we are counted worthy of suffering disgrace for Jesus (Acts 5:41).

We should be constantly grateful for the temporal and eternal blessings we’ve received that exceed the pain and suffering (2 Corinthians 4:17–18).

We should give all we have for the lost and the needy, just as Jesus did (e.g., John 13:1).

We should reorient our understanding of greatness, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:26–28).

And we should thank God that in a world in which so much is wrong, we can still have joy as we both work to make things better and wait for the day when God will make all things right.

Have a momentous day!