Reading World History from the Theology of the Cross
Onward and upward is the hope of any and every people group no matter how large or small. Human betterment is an obvious and understandable goal for all to aspire to. The church too sends out missionaries and other workers to aid in such betterment. Sometimes we’re even tempted to believe it might just happen! And in certain ways and places it has. Yet even as the church engages in such work for human betterment, we (should) live by a theology of ministry that follows Jesus’ own pattern of engagement – a cruciform, or cross-centered, pattern. His resurrection validated and vindicated this cruciform pattern of life for Jesus’ followers between his ascension and return. And that’s where the rub comes for many of us. We seem to think that Jesus’ victory through his resurrection means that his followers in history will (or should) be victorious too. That is, we believe the church should be -a cultural power, -a moral exemplar and judge, and -a major contributor to human ...