Boast Only in the Cross

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

The world is a source of boasting. It glorifies human accomplishment on the face of a planet that only shows the work of God. Man’s tiny efforts to reach God are constantly lifted up by the horde of tiny people who clamor like so many ants over the face of an amazing work of creation. It is as if our puny existence desires to be justified or redeemed by virtue of our puny works, all of which gathered together over the history of all time would never equal the first step taken by God in his creation.

To boast as a Christian is to state that God doesn’t exist or that at the very least that he doesn’t notice our attempts to take glory. Boasting and pride seeks to tear out Romans 1 and 3 from the Bible, where we are asked to be living sacrifices and not to think more highly of ourselves than we should.

Even being a witness to what God has done is dangerous territory if there is even the slightest implication that he did it through us because we were a worthy vessel. God alone is worthy, we are able to do nothing except by his strength and grace. The cross stands as an eternal symbol and reminder of man’s shame and God’s glory. He has overcome the world. We cannot overcome even ourselves. That is the good news, that is the great news, that is the eternal news that we get to proclaim to a fallen world that only has hope in the shadow of the cross.