A Christian businessman, upon returning from a trip to South America was asked what had impressed him the most. He said he could sum up his trip in two words…”cheap crosses.” He went on to explain that his trip had coincided with one of the main religious festivals of that country and everywhere he went he saw crosses of all kinds and sizes. What he would never forget, however, was what he encountered as he turned on to a side street. There was a small cart, with a drowsy burro and equally drowsy peddler, loaded down with just one product; poorly constructed wooden crosses. On top pf the cart was a sign that read, CRUCES BARATAS EN VENTA. (which, translated, means, “Cheap Crosses For Sale.”
Among the words that have lost their meaning in today’s church is the word, “cross.” When Jesus talked about the cross He was always speaking of death, because that was what the cross symbolized. Those who picked up their crosses were not scheduled for a slight alteration in their lives, but rather, they were headed down a road from which they would not return. Furthermore, life would be different, because life, as they knew it, would be no more. The line was drawn and there would be no room for negotiation or compromise.
Today, however, we live in an age of cheap crosses. Cheap crosses could well describe a good bit of what we hear being preached on TV and radio. Cheap crosses would be an appropriate sign to put on the marquees of some of our churches whose pulpits are catering to those who want a religion with no cost. People don’t mind wearing the symbol around their necks. They don’t mind singing hymns about the cross. They don’t mind preaching to the “lost” about the cross, but they do mind you suggesting that they apply the cross to their own lives. People want to believe but they don’t want to change. They don’t want to hear of personal sacrifice that might move them out of their comfort zones. Getting something for as little as possible might describe much of what is happening today. Could this be why there seems to be so little preaching about the cross in the life of the believer?
What a contrast this is to the heart of David, who said: “I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24). What a contrast this is to our Lord of whom we read: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in the likeness of man. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death of a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).
May none of us be guilty of seeking, selling or settling for a cheap cross, for on the other side of the real cross is God’s triumph. “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place.” On the other side of the real cross is the experiencing of “His incomparably great power for us who believe, and the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” On the other side of the real cross is the, “For to me to live is Christ!!” HALLELUjAH FOR THE CROSS!