Tag: cross

I My Cross Have Taken (A Day in the Life of a Dead Man Walking Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

“[Jesus] said to them all, ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me’” (Luke 9:23).

In no starker way could Christ have highlighted the steep cost of accepting Him as both Lord and Savior. In The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer thundered, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” Yet this truth does not resonate with my life here in America. I’ve never gone hungry or lived on the streets. I attended private schools and charter schools throughout my childhood. My greatest fear as a Christian is being criticized or ostracized not imprisonment or death. So why does Christ warn that following Him will cost us everything?

The Cross Jesus Carried

The answer lies in the very person of Jesus Christ Himself. Less than a day before His death, He said, “‘Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many’” (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ entire life was marked by self-sacrifice. He stepped down from perfection and clothed Himself in corruption (Philippians 2:7). He was born in obscurity, lived in paucity, and died in ignominy. He chose the hard life when He could have had the high life. And as “little-Christs”, we are called to do the same.

My Cross to Carry

Even here in the most comfortable country in the world, the bid to “come and die” is both powerful and tangible. It may involve something as drastic as “selling all we have” like Jesus called the rich young ruler to do (Matthew 19:21). But it’ll often look more like the story of the Good Samaritan:

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side…But a Samaritan, as he traveled…saw him and took pity” (Luke 10:30-33).

The call to die is often as simple as caring enough to not walk on by. I know caring is expensive in our hectic, fast-paced world. Caring may require our time, our energy, or even our money. But we can’t carry the world on one shoulder and the cross on the other. We must lay one down if we want to take up the other.

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

(Ephesians 5:1-2)

The Love of the LORD (Love Is… Part 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1, “Love is Patient”, click here. For Part 2, “Love is Kind”, click here.

I hate my name. Let me explain why before my mom dials me with a very angry phone call. My full name is Ifeoluwa, meaning the “Love of the LORD.” In Nigerian culture, names carry weight. They describe who you are called to be from cradle to grave. And through my few decades of living, I can already see how short I fall of my own.

Loving Through Rebuffing

December 25, 2015 was my first opportunity to play a Christmas playlist I curated for my family. At 7 AM, I began blasting the great classics like “What Christmas Means to Me” and “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” If you don’t recognize those songs, don’t worry, neither did my family. And they gently asked me to put on some more traditional Christmas tracks.

I grated at their lack of appreciation and dragged my little brother downstairs, certain he’d value my awesome musical selections. Being slightly more interested in his Christmas presents, he didn’t, and I shoved him. I hadn’t ever laid hands on my little brother like that, and for me to attack for him something so trivial shook me.

Speaking of the Israelites as the little children in His life, God said through the prophet Hosea, “‘When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from Me. They sacrificed to the Baals, and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them” (Hosea 11:1-13 NIV).

God’s own children abandoned Him. They turned their backs on Him and spurned His loving care. They took His blessings but rejected His instruction. Yet His faithful love for them never wavered. He healed them graciously, deferred His wrath mercifully, and disciplined them justly. He was never fickle or petty. In other words, He wasn’t like me.

Loving Through Suffering

My college experience encompassed the most trying years of my life. I spoke of the loneliness I endured during that season in a previous article. But that was only a small drop in the toxic brew that made my experience so bitter. A large source of my pain stemmed from my relationship with a professor I studied under.

My first year with him, he was distant. I could count the number of times I had a private conversation with him on one hand. The next, he was too close for comfort. He’d reach out at all manner of day and night, demanding results and pushing expectations. His moods whipped with the wind, from sunny and jovial one day to stormy and irritable the next. The pressure of his demands drove me to my very breaking point, and his hurtful words stabbed deep into my soul.

Nearing graduation, I vowed to forgive him for everything he’d done, but I always remained on edge in his presence. And after I graduated, every time I thought of him, the old pain would resurface, and I’d have to turn my thoughts to other things.

Yet Jesus begged His Father while being murdered on the cross, “‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’” (Luke 23:24 NIV). The God of love was able to forgive those who only took from Him, while I struggled to forgive a man who contributed to where I am today.

Conclusion

I am not Ifeoluwa. I am not the “Love of the LORD.” I am not Jesus. But my saving grace is that Jesus is Jesus. He loved me even when I hated Him. He will continue to teach me how to be more like my Father because He’s made me His son. And through His work on the inside of me, I’ll bear a little more resemblance to the tremendous name I’ve been given.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

(1 John 4:10 NIV)

An Apostle’s Farewell (Power of Legacy Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1, “Like Father, Like Son”, click here. For Part 2, “Actions Speak Louder than Proverbs”, click here.

Final addresses carry a power few other speeches can. They answer the question, “If I never get the chance to see you again, what must I tell you?”

Vulnerability

In his final message to the leaders of the Ephesian church, Apostle Paul began, “’You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents’” (Acts 20:18-19 NIV).

Firstly, Paul was vulnerable. His courageous leadership was unquestionable. He fought wild animals (1 Corinthians 15:32), braved shipwreck, and suffered beatings (2 Corinthians 11:25). Yet he also wasn’t afraid to put his heart on the line. He loved the members of the Christ’s body as his sons (1 Timothy 1:2), brothers (Philippians 1:12), and mothers (Romans 16:13), and he taught his followers to do the same.

Integrity

Then Paul went on to say, “‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace’” (Acts 20:22-24 NIV).

Paul is one of the few leaders in history who has lived in a manner worthy of his preaching. Jesus commanded that all who call themselves Christians should “deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him” (Matthew 16:24). The cross was an instrument of suffering and death, and Paul willingly accepted both in order to adorn the message he preached.

Industry

Paul concluded, “‘I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive”’” (Acts 20:33-35 NIV).

All of us possess God-given visions on our lives. Very few of us realize them because we are not willing to put in the excruciating amount of hard work needed to achieve them. But Paul worked harder than any other apostle (1 Corinthians 5:10) ensuring that his message was above reproach.

Conclusion

When Apostle Paul finished his speech, “They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again” (Acts 20:37-38a). When some leaders leave their office, their followers rejoice, but for others they weep bitterly. The difference is the legacy they leave behind. Apostle Paul left an incomparable legacy because of his open heart and calloused hands, and we have the opportunity to do the same.

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

(Ephesians 4:1 NIV)

Outrage

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I first witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in a Twitter post with the hashtag #imatotalpieceofshi—. This encounter revealed something deeply troubling in the American psyche, but I shoved the notion away. Like Muhammad Ali circling Joe Frazier in the ring, I knew this issue would rock me to my core if I allowed it get too close. But it can wait no longer. This tragedy demands a response.

Background on Ahmaud Arbery

Ahmaud Arbery was pursued and gunned down by two armed white men while he was out jogging. That murder occurred back in February. His killers walked free until national outcry forced the local authorities to respond three months later.

Outrage Definition

Outrage is the matching of an intense feeling of violent anger with an uncontrollable need to express it. Many have exploded at the racist extremism of these two gunmen. But far fewer have voiced indignation over the indifferent community that allowed them to go unpunished for so long.

The Outrage of the Cross

Another man was treated with contempt belying His worth when He walked this earth: Jesus Christ. The Son of God was reviled like a criminal (Matthew 27:38-44), abused like an animal (Isaiah 53:3-5), and buried like a mere mortal (Isaiah 53:9). During this bleak moment, a couple of His closest friends betrayed Him (Matthew 26:48-50) and denied Him (Mark 14:70-72). But the rest simply looked on as the grossest injustice in history was committed before their very eyes (Luke 23:44-49). The story of Jesus Christ demonstrates that apathy is not the exception but the natural state of our hearts.

From Outrage to Healing

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a hijacking of or a mere addendum to the issue of racial reconciliation. It sits at its very core. The only way an apathetic people can experience conviction and an outraged community attain forgiveness is through a transfusion of the healing blood of Jesus.

Ephesians 2:16 says, “Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” The author was referring to first century Jews and Greeks, but how much more in need of reconciliation are twenty-first century blacks and whites?

Conclusion

Jesus Christ Himself is our peace. He transforms foreigners into neighbors and our foes into friends. So close is the unity of the faith that Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:49)! But even as Christians, we still see color.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of “little black children holding hands with little white children” was not only deeply poetic but also richly biblical. The book of Revelation speaks of a day when a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue will praise God together (Revelation 7:9). Diversity will no longer be a moat of division but a fount of inspiration, manifesting the multifaceted creativity of our Maker. That dream is brought ever closer when we extend our arms to our enemies and love them as our family.

“‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'”

(Matthew 5:43-44 ESV)