Christ crossed the World, and it Led to the Cross

Christ crossed the world. He did not show proper respect to the respectable. His true righteousness poked holes in their religiosity. He did not walk the party line. We are familiar with this story. But we forget that others besides Christ and Christians pay a price for crossing the world.

A.W. Tozer said “I do not see why the world has any attraction for anyone. Anybody who can read anything about history will understand that the world always destroys its own.”

I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent sermons songs by Seals and Crofts (1970’s era). I mentioned their song “We May Never Pass This Way Again,” and then “King of Nothing.” Much less known is a song called “Unborn Child.” In accordance with their Bahai faith, an eclectic religion that seeks to accept and integrate all religions, they sang for the value of life, and pitched a song which begged for this consideration among mothers. The lyrics are not subtle: 

Oh unborn child, if you only knew just what your momma was plannin’ to do. 

You’re still a-clingin’ to the tree of life, but soon you’ll be cut off before you get ripe. 

Oh unborn child, beginning to grow inside your momma, but you’ll never know. 

Oh tiny bud, that grows in the womb, only to be crushed before you can bloom.

You might remember that Roe v. Wade was handed down by the Supreme Court in 1973. “Unborn Child” was released in 1974. S&C’s “Summer Breeze” was at the top of the charts. But this new song was boycotted on radio stations. Their concerts were picketed. Why? Because it’s not profitable to cross the world.

Our value for human life is grounded in the Biblical teaching that humankind was made by God, in the image of God, to represent Him and bring Him glory. Though humankind’s fall into sin left that image marred and distorted, it is not erased. Humans have value as image-bearers. Further, this distorted image is restored by faith in Jesus, Himself the express image of God who faithfully fulfilled what it means to be a human in the image of God - by faith in this Jesus, we are being restored as we become more like Jesus. Our reverence for life is grounded in the fact that humans, in creation, and then in redemption, are image-bearers. 

The world, on the other hand, is fully committed to a radical expression of one’s individual freedom, more valuable than the life of another, and certainly more valuable than a life in the womb. If you want to sell records, don’t cross the world. And if you want to save the world from itself, realize that it involves bearing a cross.