Over 70 years ago, A. W. Tozer wrote his famous article on “The Old Cross and the New.” In it, he explains, “The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, ‘Come and assert yourself for Christ.’ To the egotist it says, ‘Come and do your boasting in the Lord.’ To the thrill seeker it says, ‘Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship.’ The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.”
The modern cross goes one step further. It does not redirect the sinner. It empowers the sinner. “Come to Jesus and become a bigger and better you!”
So, with decades of anemic gospel preaching, with a compromised Church, with a society that continues to be increasingly postmodern and post-Christian, and with all kinds of sinful temptations at our fingertips (literally), it is no wonder that so many are falling away.
-Michael Brown
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