Mark 8:34-38 says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.
Now when it says we must deny ourselves, clearly it is speaking of sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving up something that we consider important, for something we know is even more important. In this case we are sacrificing for for the utmost. We must give up the life we think is good for us, and accept the life that God says is good for us.
John 15: 12-13 says, “My command is this; Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
We can learn two things from this. First that love implies and incorporates sacrifice or laying down of one’s life. I believe this can be interpreted literally; meaning that we should be willing to physically die for our friends. However it can also be interpreted as a living sacrifice; this is where we give up our time, money, energy, possessions, and all that is not essential to eternity for others. The second thing that can be learned is that this type of love should be shown to our friends. If this type of love is necessary for friendship our friends are those to whom we sacrifice for. Contrary to popular belief the relationship with our ‘buddies’, that we normally call friends, rely mainly on tolerance and using each other for amusement and being comfortable. Most of the time little self sacrifice is present and as a product very little growth. This is not the type of friend God is calling us to be.
I know about the capability of selfishness amidst good deeds. Sacrifice can be tainted by conceit and self righteousness; so not only do we have to be living sacrifices, but we also must have the right sacrificial attitude. This is outlined in Philippians 2: 5-11, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. 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 human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Now many of you, as I did, may first say that this is an impossible attitude for us to have; perhaps this is true but it should not limit us in trying to mimic it.
In order to have a sacrificial attitude we need to continually understand how horribly imperfect, rotten, selfish, and deserving of death we are; while at the same time continually realizing how great God is. We do not deserve life, “for the wages of sin is death.” Every day we have, every breath we take, is a gift from God. Today many ‘Christians’ and other religious peoples are doing quite the opposite. Instead of glorifying god we glorify ourselves somehow believing we have divinity or something to give to God. But the truth is that God does not need us. He does not need us but he does want to use us. In Isaiah 55: 8-13 says;
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
If we don’t let God use us than he will just use someone else to accomplish his will. Another thing we believe we can give to God is our lives. In Christianity the statement of giving our lives to Christ is used a lot. How can we give God something that we don’t have in the first place? To believe that we control our lives is a lie we tell ourselves. Here is an example: If a man owns and controls a lawn mower he can guide it, fix it, and help it run smoothly, and it will fulfill its intended purpose. If we say we control our own lives then our lives better be in order. However our lives, our bodies are not meant for us to control. When we think we do own ourselves conflict arises, negative consequences occur, the machine that is us does not run smoothly and it does not fulfill its intended purpose. When we ‘give’ our lives to Christ, all we are doing is coming face to face with reality; the reality that we can’t have and control our own lives. God is the creator and controller, the only way for us, as the machine, to run smoothly is to realize this. For god loves the unlovable, uses the inadequate, cleans the unclean, perfects the imperfect, and glorifies the unworthy. We are the unlovable, the inadequate, the unworthy, the unclean, the imperfect, and the unworthy. It is about time we faced this reality. By this understanding we can be living sacrifices with a sacrificial attitude of Christ.
1 John 4: 7-12 helps us form a conclusion. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God, everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning SACRFICE for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Since God loved us we ought to love one another, a love that has everything to do with sacrifice. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” If love incorporates sacrifice we can replace the words in that verse. “Whoever does not sacrifice does not know God, because God is sacrifice.” If we do not sacrifice it says we do not know God. If we do not know God, than we do not understand the sacrifice he made in Jesus Christ. If we don’t understand that sacrifice, not only do we not love, but we also are not saved.
This spin on love, sacrifice, and God, not only clarifies much of the Gospel; but also highlights one reason why Christianity stands apart from other religions. As far as I know, no other religion emphasizes sacrifice as a necessary condition to love, and therefore a necessary condition to know God. Other religions especially do not show God expressing this kind of love to people. It also shows that this is not something we attain, but is a mere recognition of what already is. This recognition causes people to become living sacrifices, and does not hinge on people trying to sacrifice.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
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