What The Cross Means to You?

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What the cross means to you?

What does it symbolise for you?

We have different perspective about this cross depending on our status in life like religion or beliefs. Some interpret cross as a thing that can only be seen in churches with a man being nailed to it. For some it is a sign that they need to do whenever and wherever they see a church as a sign of respect(I think). Some are saying it is an instrument use for casting evil spirits away and sad to say for other this cross is like an accessory or icon. They just wear it or use it not because of its significance but because they just want to.

There was a pastor in America who was eating at one of the restaurants in New York who encountered a young waitress with this cross thing as her accessory and the story goes like this. The waitress brought the salads and drinks to the pastor’s table and he was curious. There was a 20-something with a cross tattoo, cross earrings, and a cross necklace. Curiosity got the best of him and he had to say something about it. Certainly this was one of the postmodern looking, hip-believers that was shining the light in the dark world. Studying at her large secular university whose stadium cast a shadow on the restaurant were the pastor and his buddy were taking their lunch, he had to ask. He said, “So wow! you’ve got this whole cross thing going on. Tell me what that’s about.”

She looked at the pastor little bewildered. And then the light went on in waitress’ head. “Oh the crosses. It’s just kind of my personal favorite. Uh, you know, an icon. I just think it’s pretty.”

The pastor really was not expecting that answer. So he followed up, “So you mean that the cross is- a neat symbol? Symbol of what?”

“I don’t know. I just like it”

“Oh” He just said in a mousey voice, “I see.”

At that moment the pastor realized how strangely secular their conservative city had become. The cross, which for the him was the symbol of the path of his life, was now reduced to a clothing and tattoo accessory.

For The waitress, the cross is just an accessory.

For the Pastor, it is the symbol of the path for his life.

What about You? What is the essence or representation of the cross for you?

Most of us especially those christians, this cross is more than just an accessory or clothing thing as for me it represents redemption, salvation, life, and death of Christ for all His humanity to have fellowship with the almighty God again and to restore that hope that once was lost.

What about on Jesus’ days what was this cross for them?. As we can see on different movie versions of the crucifixion of Jesus, the cross was usually using for criminals where the condemned person is tied or nailed to it and left to hang until dead.

Since I became a christian, when I see or hear cross it reminds me of Jesus’ unfailing love for me, a love that I really never deserve to have for I am a sinner. But my understanding is too far away compare to Jesus’. All I know is that the love of Jesus is beyond everything else. As in everything else… Everything else… Everything else… that He came to a point of dying on the cross for my shame just to show how much love He has for me, how much He is willing to accept me and how much He can give just to bring me back to His family. He was crucified on that cross that once was using for criminals.

What about you? What the cross represents to you? For me the cross represents,

Christ’s

Redemption for

Our

Sin and

Shame.

For Paul the cross means the power of God when he wrote to the corinthians. He said in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”