Christianity bears the mark of the cross while popular religion is driven by success. Christian formation (discipleship) that does not take Jesus' self understanding seriously as the suffering Messiah will by default be what the Scots called a church of Satan.
“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:31–36, ESV)
How do we measure success? By gospel faithfulness? By the discipleship of self-denial? Or by numbers, claiming what we want from God no matter what, the financial bottom line, or the "relevance" of our worship service? Calvin wrote, "...all ministers of the Word, who desire that their preaching may be profitable, ought to be exceedingly careful that the glory of his resurrection should be always exhibited by them in connection with the ignominy of his death." Is our will put to death so that God has his way with his Church?
