Following up the previous blogs in more theologically precise language, the life and teachings of Jesus are an integral part of the atonement event. The cross did not occur in a vacuum. Jesus did not drop down out of heaven and go to the cross. He led a life that brought him there. In becoming man he subjected himself to the historical process, suffering its consequences. Otherwise, he is no true brother of ours. "He learned obedience through the things which he suffered."

Faithful preaching of the cross, therefore, must incorporate also the life and teachings of Jesus. In so doing, the ethical teachings of Jesus, so often emphasized by 'liberal' theology, is wed to the cross as atonement, as emphasized by evangelicals. There is no dichotomy and there is not one without the other.

The practical outworking of this integration is that evangelicals who "glory in the cross" must also learn to glory in Jesus' life and teachings which resulted in the cross. Evangelicals must learn that to "lift high the cross" necessarily includes lifting high the footsteps to the cross. By so doing, the ethical teachings of Jesus, all too often ignored or subjugated to a lesser importance by evangelicals, will regain their importance to followers of Christ. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ includes believing his message as well as his cross and resurrection. The result of such belief will mean that our lifestyles, ethics and allegiances must fall under the holy lens of Jesus' life. It also means that as a follower of Christ I cannot share in the victory of his cross without sharing in its cause and shame--the holy, selfless life of Christ.

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.