[I]f we are to be kingdom-announcers, modeling the new way of being human, we are also to be cross bearers. This is a strange and dark theme that is also our birthright as followers of Jesus. Shaping our world is never for a Christian a matter of going out arrogantly thinking we can just get on with the job, reorganizing the world according to some model that we have in mind. It is a matter of sharing and bearing the pain and puzzlement of the world so that the crucified love of God in Christ may be brought to bear healingly upon the world at exactly that point. Because Jesus bore the cross uniquely for us, we do not have to purchase forgiveness again; it’s been done. But because, as he himself said, following him involves taking up the cross, we should expect, as the New Testament tells us repeatedly, that to build on his foundation will be to find the cross etched into the pattern of our life and work over and over again.

N. T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus, pgs. 188-89

The cross of Jesus was the place, literally and theologically, where the love of God came to bear upon this world. The meaning for us us clear: to carry the cross, to be crucified with Christ, is to bring the love of God to bear upon the world at precisely that point.

One more comment…the above paragraph gets to the heart of why this blog has the name it does: The Cruciform Pen.