Jesus' Counter-culture Mission

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them,

 “If any want to become my followers, 

let them deny themselves and 

take up their cross and follow me."

(from Mark 8:31-38)

Carrying the cross through village of Swanton, Vt. was an annual event.

The pastors and members of the village churches met on the green preparing to carry a wooden cross from church-to-church reading scriptures and prayers at each stop.

This procession portrays Jesus carrying the cross to his death on Golgotha thus ending his holy mission.

In the pain and tumult of our times, without searching the Scriptures, it’s hard to see God making things right.

If Jesus’ mission was suffering and dying to save us from the sins of the world, the violence following the Kansas City Chief’s victory parade indicates a misunderstood message.

The culture of the Kansas City Chief’s parade was violence coming from a broken society.

Jesus’ mission, I feel, was a counter-culture mission.

Jesus’ counter-culture mission is bringing peace into violence and wholeness into brokenness. (Isaiah 1:17) (Zechariah 7:9-10) (Deuteronomy 10:18)

Jesus’ faithfulness to establishing God’s counter-culture reign on earth, disrupted the established culture and led to his death on the cross.

When Jesus says to the crowd that one faithfully taking up this counter-culture cross may lose their life, but they will also gain it, (Mark 10:39) they probably knew of James’ and Peter’s martyrdom.

There will be a time, Jesus says when the faithful will re-gather as disciples and be empowered for the holy work of the counter-culture mission.

To be a follower of Jesus’ counter-culture mission, he says, is actually participating in this holy work.

Think about it: In what ways do you sometimes argue with Jesus’ priorities and values? Why? What helps you stop?