If the historical inevitability of Jesus' cross is taken into account then I as a follower of Christ cannot escape the same inevitability. The cross I face may not be execution but it will nevertheless be as real as the physical cross of Christ. It may be said, in fact, that the cross of Christ is that which frees me to bear my own cross. Unfortunately, in much evangelical preaching escaping from the cross seems to be the theme: because Jesus bore it I no longer have to. I am freed to enjoy all the comforts, pleasures and possessions that life has to offer. All I am required to do is give a tenth and I am 'off the hook.'

Popular theology, as epitomized in the gospel song, "I Should Have Been Crucified," misses the startling point: does anything about my life deserve the world's crucifixion? What about the evangelical church is a threat to our culture? The church is obviously very comfortable with our culture's materialistic and nationalistic idolatry: witness the grand and comfortable structures in which we worship, or the salaries of successful ministerial staff, or the prominent display of the American flag in many of our sanctuaries. Even the cross is prominently displayed behind a baptistry of heated water. But what of the cross's significance in the life of Jesus? It was not simply the end of his life, but that to which his life inevitably pointed. That which in Jesus' life resulted in a cross is that to which we must aspire, as followers of Christ.

We cannot share in the glory of the resurrection without the experience of the cross. And we cannot share in the experience of the cross unless we follow Jesus' road to the cross. The shame of the cross encompasses all that led to it and if I truly aspire to follow Christ that shame cannot be avoided. Evangelical churches, in seeking to become ever more popular and successful, are avoiding the very mark which alone would authentically characterize them as Christian: the shame of the cross.