Cross My Heart

Mark 8: 34 “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

There are different kinds of people we look up to these days. Leaders who get things done. Celebrities who entertain us. Sport stars who help our team win. Prosperous business owners whose products we buy. We may even try to be like them and wonder if we only work harder or smarter, we will be just as successful.

Jesus turned the world’s view of what was important and successful upside down when he modeled a new way of living and being together as human beings. When Jesus preached the good news of God’s presence in the world, it was with a call to recognize and reject those things in society that cause harm to one another. Instead of accepting and even participating in prejudice, injustice, and selfishness, Jesus showed a way of reconciliation, inclusion, and justice.

Our own ideas of success can be re-defined as we model the same values as Jesus. We can speak for those who have no voice, we can stand up for those who daily face acts of hatred based on their identity, and we can reject systems that belittle and demean others. When we work harder and smarter for the benefit of others, we are successful witnesses to the good news of God’s kingdom. Thanks be to God.

Knox Presbyterian Church will continue to worship ONLINE only for the next couple of months as we move closer to the time when in-person worship is safe again.