Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Taking Up One’s Cross and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering

Taking Up One’s Cross and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering

Last updated on: January 22, 2020 at 10:00 am by Herb Montgomery

Taking Up One’s Cross and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering 2020-01-21T11:32:16-04:00 Herb Montgomery

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Welcome readers! Please subscribe through the buttons on the right if you enjoy this post.

In both Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels we read these words:

“And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27, cf. Matthew 10:38)

A couple of years ago now, I was invited to speak at a conference on nonviolence and the atonement. I chose to speak on violent forms of nonviolence: how atonement theories that treat the violent death of Jesus as salvific don’t bear nonviolent fruit toward the survivors of violence. I called on the participants to consider how penal substitution has produced violence, and to weigh the violence also that has come from more “nonviolent” theories such as moral influence and Christus Victor.

The above passage is related to all of this. “Taking up one’s cross” has been used over and over to prioritize oppressors over survivors and to encourage the oppressed to passively and patiently endure. These ways of interpreting this passage (and ones like it) have proven very convenient for oppressors and those who don’t want to disrupt the power imbalance of the status quo.

For example, when one intimate partner suffers physical or emotional abuse at the hands of another how many times have Christian pastors counseled the abused partner (usually a woman) to “bear their cross,” be “like Jesus,” and simply “turn the other cheek”? Turning the other cheek was for Jesus a call to creative, nonviolent forms of disruption, protest, and resistance. It gave those pushed to the undersides and edges of society a way to reclaim and affirm themselves despite being dehumanized. Here, I want to suggest, alongside feminist and womanist scholars, that “taking up one’s cross” is not a call to patiently, passively endure, but to take hold of life and stand up against injustice even if there is a cost for doing so. This passage is not a call to passively suffer but to protest even if the status quo threatens you for doing so.

There is a subtle difference, but the implications are huge. What we are discussing this week is called the myth of redemptive suffering. Joanne Carlson Brown and Rebecca Parker state in their essay God So Loved The World?:

“It is not acceptance of suffering that gives life; it is commitment to life that gives life. The question, moreover, is not, Am I willing to suffer? but Do I desire fully to live? This distinction is subtle and, to some, specious, but in the end it makes a great difference in how people interpret and respond to suffering. If you believe that acceptance of suffering gives life, then your resources for confronting perpetrators of violence and abuse will be numbed.” (Christianity, Patriarchy, and Abuse, pp. 1-30)

What was Jesus talking about, then, when he said: “take up your own cross?”

First, Borg and Crossan’s correctly remind us that Jesus’ cross in the gospels was about participation, not substitution:

“For Mark, it is about participation with Jesus and not substitution by Jesus. Mark has those followers recognize enough of that challenge that they change the subject and avoid the issue every time. (Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan. The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’s Final Days in Jerusalem (Kindle Locations 1589-1593)

While I agree with Borg and Crossan’s about participation rather than substitution, I disagree with their interpretation that a cross (suffering) was an intrinsic part of following Jesus. I do not subscribe to the idea that suffering is an intrinsic precursor of triumph or success. Suffering only enters into the picture of following Jesus if those benefitting from the status quo feel threatened by the changes that Jesus’ new social vision would make and threaten Jesus’ followers with a cross.

In other words, being willing to take up one’s cross is not the call to be passive in the face of suffering, but to protest and resist even in the face of being threatened with a cross (if such threats are made).

Jesus could have very well said, “Anyone who is not willing to protest and resist, even in the face of a threatened cross, is not worthy of me.” “The cross” in this context does not mean remaining passive. It means being willing to endure the results of disrupting, confronting, resisting, and protesting injustice. The cross is not a symbol of passivity but of the consequences of resistance: it is a symbol of the suffering that those in power threaten protestors with to scare them into remaining passive. Remember, the question is not how much am I willing to suffer, but how badly do I want to live!

If those in power threaten you with a cross for standing up or speaking out, then it becomes necessary for you to take up a cross and to continue to stand up against injustice. Otherwise, the cross never comes into the pictures. Protesting, for instance, does not always involve being arrested, but if it does, protest anyway! The goal in scenarios like these is not to suffer, but to refuse to let go of life. Again, the question is not are you willing to suffer, but do you desire to fully live?

How one interprets taking up one’s cross has deep implications for survivors of relational violence, as well as for all who are engaging in any form of social justice work. When those who feel threatened try to intimidate and silence your voice through fear of an imposed “cross,” the above passage calls us to count the cost and then refuse to let go of life. Do not be silenced. Reject the death of being silent.

For clarity, consider the following diagram on our response to injustice:

Too often, Jesus’ teaching of taking up the cross has been interpreted so that the injustice itself is the cross.

Instead, consider that the injustice is not the cross but simply an initial injustice. In this model, the cross is the threats one receives for standing up to or resisting injustice.

This interpretation of taking up one’s cross is that Jesus is not encouraging his followers to remain passive but to resist. And if a cross comes into the picture, then resist anyway. Jesus’ nonviolence was rooted in resistance, and sometimes change happens before there is a cross. So bearing a cross is not intrinsic to following Jesus. It only enters the picture when those who are threatened choose to add it.

Jesus was proposing a new social vision, a way of doing life as a community, that threatened those most benefited by systems of domination and exploitation. The way of Jesus was rooted in resource-sharing, wealth redistribution, and bringing those on the edges of society into a shared table where their voices could be heard and valued too. Did the early Jesus movement threaten those in positions of power and privilege? You bet. Jesus, here, seems to be saying, when those in power choose to threaten crosses for those standing up to systemic injustice, don’t let go. Keep holding on to hope even in the face of impossible odds. Keep holding on to life—resist.

Feminism

Myth of Redemptive Suffering

Myth of Redemptive Suffering

Myth of Redemptive Violence

Preferential Option for the Oppressed

Sayings Gospel Q | Tagged Activism

Silencing

Survival

About Herb Montgomery

Herb Montgomery, director of Renewed Heart Ministries, is an author and adult religious re-educator helping Christians explore the intersection of their faith with love, compassion, action and societal justice. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

January 20, 2020

Being Rejected By Family

Next Post

January 24, 2020 The Ethic of Enemy Love (Part 1)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ableism Abolition Advent Anti Semitism Christianity Christmas Climate Justice Criminal Justice Democracy Disability Justice Distributive Justice Easter Economic Justice Environmental Justice Equity Feminism Government Immigration Justice Indigenous Justice Interfaith Law and Order LGBTQ Affirmation Liberation Theology Migrant Justice Myth of Redemptive Suffering Nonviolence Prayer Racial Justice Reparation Resistance Resurrection Social Gospel Social Justice Survival Uncategorized Womanism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the Shield of Faith protect believers from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The need for armor The fiery darts of the enemy Earthly wealth Physical attacks