Keeping the cross front and centre

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2)

Recently I was talking with a neighbour about church, and he asked me “So what is church all about?” He was curious, and wanted to know what I think is central to what we believe, sing about, pray about and how we relate to one another.

What a great question! And it got me thinking.

1 Corinthians 2:2 sums up the apostle Paul’s approach to ministry—to focus on the death of our now-risen Christ and its significance. Specifically, Paul wants us to live by the fact that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). He died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins. That’s at the very heart of Paul’s message as he teaches the Corinthians how to treat and serve each other, eat together, deal with serious sin in their midst, and use their gifts. So then, everything we do in church is automatically shaped by the cross.

Or is it?

Well, let me suggest a few things.

Remember that the Old Testament also points us to “Jesus Christ and him crucified”. When our minister preaches from the Old Testament hopefully he will help us to see this, for that’s the way Jesus himself taught the Old Testament (Luke 24:27, 44-48). But it can also be helpful for someone to pray in response to an Old Testament reading, pointing to the cross. For example, if the reading is from the Law, give thanks that our Lord has fulfilled it and dealt with the law’s condemnation of our sin on the cross.

Include prayers of confession regularly. Introduce them with verses that remind us of our need to repent and trust in the risen Lord Jesus. Then assure all present of the forgiveness of sins he brought us in his death, paying out our sin debt in full. These can be found in liturgical books, such as the Book of Common Prayer, Directory for Public Worship, or you could write your own.

Think about the mix of songs for any given Sunday. Is it clear that central to our praise is that our now risen king has dealt with our sins in his death and resurrection?

Think about how the death of Christ for our sins should shape our prayers. After all, it is because of his death that we can approach God as our forgiving father. And don’t forget thanksgiving for God’s love in sending his Son to die for our sins.

Give careful thought to the order in which we do things in church, to avoid unintended consequences. For example, we might decide to include the children in the Lord’s Supper by having it before they leave the main gathering for their own time of learning. But if we have the Lord’s Supper before the Bible readings and sermon, then we won’t understand that this meal flows out of an understanding of the word of the cross.

Have the leader remind us that we meet to serve one another. Our risen Lord himself came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” so we have an excellent example (Matt 20:28). I’ve sometimes read this verse before talking about why we need people to help pack up chairs after church!

Keep the focus on the cross after the formal part of the gathering. If we have supper or morning tea after the formal part of church, have someone pray, thanking God for the food, and asking him to work in us so that we eat and drink together remembering our Lord’s death. That means we don’t ignore others, we ensure everyone gets something to eat, and we treat one another well.

Let’s work together to make the cross front and centre of all we do in church.