Crosswise

A word you don't hear much anymore is "crosswise."  It means to cut something from one corner to the other or from one side to the other.  It can also mean disagreement or conflict - to cut across as in drawing a line in the sand, so to speak.

It is a word that should describe the Christian life as our moral and ethical stands cut across the grain of secular society.  In a culture that debases human sexuality to the level of animal behavior, we are called to monogamous, marital purity and sanctity.  In a self-seeking world, looking out for number one; we are called to sacrifice self and seek the good of others as a priority.  In a world where the love of money is the root of all evil, we are called to the love of God, which is the root of all good.

We are not in this world to fit in, follow the crowd or accept cultural norms.  We are called to crosswise against the flow of society, to break the secular mold, to draw a counter-cultural line in the sand and invite others to join us in accepting the Kingdom of God, becoming followers or disciples of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul put it this way: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is---his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Rom 12:2).

We are not to be "conformed" (form along with the grain of society) but rather to "transformed" (formed across or against the grain of society).  Rather than be cast in a secular mold, we are called to  cut crosswise society from one corner to the other, moving above and beyond its norms to that which reflects God's will for us, embracing Kingdom norms that transcend this world.

If you will allow me a little literary license, I want to close with a different slant on the word crosswise.  I want to challenge you to be wise in the way of the cross - to be crosswise in the sense of rejecting the foolishness of selfishness and embrace the wisdom of selflessness.  As Jesus put it: "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?" (Lk 9:25).

So, here's the deal: Will you choose to be crosswise or cross-foolish?  Will you selfishly seek the treasures of this world that are limited to this world and its passing.  Or, will you selflessly choose the treasures of heaven and its eternal glory?  Will you be a modern day Moses, who "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward" (Heb 11:26)?  Jus' Ask'n in a crosswise way.