Reasons For Denial

Well, it’s been quite a long summer. I can’t believe it’s more than half over. So many things have happened both good and bad. It blows my mind to think that I will be moving into the dorm in a month. My parents have not been taking it so well, me on the other hand, I’m kind of ready to get out. At the same time though, I probably will want to move right back in once I’ve been up there for a few weeks. I was going to room with one of my close friends from high school, but unfortunately, all of that changed last week. Now I’ve been placed with someone that I’ve never even talked to. It’s already been a week so I hope she contacts me soon. I believe everything happens for a reason though, so maybe it’s for the best.

Needles Eye, Custer State Park, South Dakota

Other than getting ready for the transition of college, I’ve been catching up on my reading this week. I said in my past blog that I was going to finish the book and keep updating on what I’ve read so I thought I’d take some time to elaborate on what I’ve learned. Throughout the summer, I’ve planned on meeting with a friend to discuss the book, however since so many things have come up, today was the first time we got to actually meet and discuss it. As of this morning I finished part seven, but since we hadn’t met all summer we discussed some earlier parts of the book.

It’s been about a month since I started The Cross of Christ so a lot of things I have read had slipped my memory but my friend reminded me about a few parts today. One thing in particular I was reminded of was in part two. Stott spends quite some time talking about why Christ had to die. There were three main people/ groups that were significantly responsible for Christ’s death. First there was Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, the one who never really understood the gospel that Christ had come to proclaim.  Then there were the Pharisees and the high priests who were very legalistic in nature and refused to accept anyone’s teaching but their own. Finally, there was Pilate who actually handed Christ over to be crucified at the will of the crowd.

Each party denied Christ for different reasons and those reasons are the same ones that we use ourselves to deny Christ today. Judas gave into materialism and chose to condemn Christ because he was offered money to do so (Mark 14:10-11). For us that means we deny Christ when we get caught up in worldly things and make idols that become more important than him.

The Pharisees were envious of Christ because they always thought they were right, they were all about keeping the law. When Christ came they couldn’t accept his teaching because they wouldn’t lay down their pride. They did not want to admit that they were at fault so they became envious of Christ and therefore denied him rather than learning from his teaching (Matthew 26:59-60). When we become envious of Christ and try to compare ourselves to him and become better through our own work rather than laying down our pride and letting him come in, we are denying Christ.

One of the most popular reasons why we deny Christ today is cowardice. Pilate was a coward when he gave into the voice of the crowd rather than doing what he knew was right. He had found no reason to have Jesus put to death, yet instead he listened to the crowd and handed him over (Luke 23:22-24). We deny Christ when we don’t stand up for his name before others. We become just like Peter when he denied Christ three times the night before he was crucified (John 18:15-18, 25-27).

Whether it is materialism, envy, or even cowardice, we all deny Christ at some point for one reason or another. I even struggle with it myself from time to time, but I since my relationship with God has grown, it’s become so much easier to avoid falling into denial. How could I deny the one, who has propitiated me, redeemed my sin, justified me before God and reconciled me to himself?

What I learned in part two was just one of the many things that I have learned through reading The Cross of Christ. I really wish I had more time to elaborate more about the things I’ve learned, but hopefully I can make some time soon to type more. Although it is a higher level of reading, I enjoy the detail that Stott goes into explain everything that he writes about, giving biblical references and references to other authors ideas’ along the way. It has made me dig deep and really think about what I believe and why I believe it. I’ve started to get past the surface of Christianity and I’ve learned in much greater detail about the cross and why Jesus had to die.

I’m excited to continue reading the rest of the book this summer, although I’m planning on taking a few notes for the rest of the time being that I found it hard to discuss things with my friend a month after I had read it ;) If you’re reading this blog I hope you’ve gotten something out of it other than my rambling. I plan on expounding more when I get time to so check back often.

Peace in the Middle East,

Chelsea