Bearing witness to the crucified Christ

In my World Religions class I try to encourage students to develop at least a partial appreciation for the non-Christian religions. It is not evangelism but an academic course on global religion in a college setting. Students are expected to be open to new learnings, to consider the various ways that “truth and grace” have manifested themselves in different cultures.

Yet I am aware on a personal level that, as a Christian, I have a place to stand. One needs a place to stand, a referent point, a normative center. At the heart of Christian faith is Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead. The biggest difference between Christianity and the non-Christian religions is Jesus himself—the message of the cross and resurrection. It is not a matter of “converting” people to this. The traditional “conversion model” of mission is laden with problems. For one thing, it ignores the new parity there is now between the world’s religions, and it smacks of arrogance.

Rather, Christians are called to bear witness to the crucified Christ through cruciform living. How do we do this? We bear witness through our words and deeds. We bear witness through our worship and service. We bear witness through suffering and sacrifice and by loving a world that needs the healing power of the gospel. We bear witness by following Christ and sharing his fate: cruciform living in the name of the crucified Christ.

Jesus willingly died without retaliation or violence. He died with a vision of the coming kingdom of God. God raised him from the dead as the sign that the New Age has already begun. Therefore, Christian faith is hope—hope in the God who turns crucifixion into resurrection, and who brings in the kingdom through vicarious suffering: the triumph of love over hate.

There are many Christians in America right now who are very good at hating and very good at being angry. They are very good at judging who is saved and who is lost. Do they really understand the crucified Christ?

Sooner or later the message of the crucified Christ has to get through. The world needs to hear it. But more importantly, the world needs to see it.