{"id":1047,"date":"2016-01-11T07:29:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-11T13:29:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2021-12-07T17:55:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T17:55:34","slug":"taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

by Bill Tell. \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Read more great content at billtell.com<\/a>.
\nLuke 9:23 is a fairly well known verse. \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me<\/em>.\u201d Well known, but not well liked \u2014 at least for me. It laid down conditions for being a follower of Jesus that were not very attractive. Deny myself. Take up my cross<\/a>. Oh okay \u2013 not too many ski lift tickets, no table saw, no touch screen. And for sure, no relaxing fun \u2013 after all, crosses are really heavy, sweaty, exhausting things to carry. And since it is for Jesus, it doesn\u2019t feel right taking a day off from denying myself and to put down the cross. Drudgery \u2013 here I come, but I am doing it for you Jesus.<\/em>
\nBut then I learned to read this through the lens of the gospel. It changed everything.\u00a0 This is a good news verse. Let\u2019s look.
\nFirst, Jesus tells me to \u201cdeny<\/strong>\u201d myself. My initial interpretation of this always leans toward asceticism, austerity, starkness \u2013 interpreted meaning my life is going \"dog-and-cookie-1\"
\nto be filled with unmet desires, boredom and rather drab. And jealousy of those who don\u2019t deny themselves. The good news is that it does not mean this. The Greek word arneomai<\/em>means \u201crefuse to follow.\u201d Who do I refuse to follow? Myself. Stop being independent\u2026because if I am my life will<\/u> be filled with unmet desires. It will<\/u> be drab. Boring. A disappointment. I will be like the prodigal son who thought independence offered the perfect life. God knows what is more fulfilling for me than I do. Okay \u2013 so denying myself is really a good thing.
\nBut then Jesus says \u201ctake up your cross<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0 Movies always show the cross-beam as unbelievably heavy. A huge burden. Why would he be telling me here to carry a heavy burden if in Matthew 11:30 Jesus tells me his burden is light? Which is it?
\nI need to understand \u201ctake up your cross\u201d the way the original audience did. To the original hearers, seeing an individual carrying their cross meant that person was on a one-way journey. And the imagery also included a pathway lined with crowds jeering and criticizing the soon to be crucified criminal.
\nLastly Jesus says \u201cfollow<\/strong> me<\/strong>.\u201d Why would Jesus say this to me? I think it\u2019s because he wants me to be with him. And maybe even more significantly, he wants to be with me!\u00a0<\/em>Jesus wants me to experience an incredibly precious relationship.
\nPutting all this together \u2013 what do I hear Jesus saying? For me it sounds like this; \u201cDon\u2019t be fooled into thinking you independently know what is most fulfilling for you. Instead, come on a one way journey with me and don\u2019t let those who criticize you cause you to turn around. Follow me because I want you to be with me, and I want to be with you. And in this relationship of ours, you will find life just as the Father and I have planned it for you \u2013 and nothing could be better.\u201d
\nTo take up my cross is to be rescued from the emptiest and most unfilled life I could live and it is an invitation to unlock the best ever! Luke 9:23 is a good news verse.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nBill Tell is a National Staff Development Specialist with The Navigators. He has been on staff with The Navigators for forty-three\u00a0years. He has served and led in student and collegiate ministry all across the country. He was\u00a0a Vice President of The Navigators for 13 years before sensing God\u2019s call back to direct field ministry and helping people live in the reality of gospel freedom. Follow Bill on his blog billtell.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bill Tell. \u00a0\u00a0Read more great content at billtell.com. Luke 9:23 is a fairly well known verse. \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.\u201d Well known, but not well … <\/p>\n

Read more“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n"Taking Up Your Cross" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Taking Up Your Cross" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Bill Tell. \u00a0\u00a0Read more great content at billtell.com. Luke 9:23 is a fairly well known verse. \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.\u201d Well known, but not well ... Read more“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Disciplemaker Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5\"},\"headline\":\"“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\"},\"wordCount\":633,\"commentCount\":18,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Discipleship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Taking Up Your Cross\\\" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker\",\"description\":\"Bold. Loving. Sensible.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization\",\"name\":\"NavPress\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png\",\"width\":4092,\"height\":818,\"caption\":\"NavPress\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5\",\"name\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Disciplemaker Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/dgeeslin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Taking Up Your Cross\" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Taking Up Your Cross\" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker","og_description":"by Bill Tell. \u00a0\u00a0Read more great content at billtell.com. Luke 9:23 is a fairly well known verse. \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.\u201d Well known, but not well ... Read more“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think","og_url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/","og_site_name":"The Disciplemaker","article_published_time":"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Disciplemaker Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Disciplemaker Team","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/"},"author":{"name":"The Disciplemaker Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5"},"headline":"“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think","datePublished":"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/"},"wordCount":633,"commentCount":18,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Discipleship"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/","name":"\"Taking Up Your Cross\" Is Not What You Think - The Disciplemaker","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-01-11T13:29:24+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-07T17:55:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2016\/01\/taking-up-your-cross-is-not-what-you-think\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Taking Up Your Cross” Is Not What You Think"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","name":"The Disciplemaker","description":"Bold. Loving. Sensible.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#organization","name":"NavPress","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/06\/cropped-The-Disciplemaker.png","width":4092,"height":818,"caption":"NavPress"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/336a0124246a4b32dfcd97632e442fd5","name":"The Disciplemaker Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/13f656eb42ae7a3178247402a948adef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Disciplemaker Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/author\/dgeeslin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11415,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1047\/revisions\/11415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}