To be a follower of the Crucified means, sooner or later, a personal encounter with the cross. And the cross always entails loss.
Interpretation
Following the teachings of the Crucified involves facing personal hardships and sacrifices associated with faith.
Elisabeth Elliot emphasizes that being a true follower of Christ, who was crucified, inevitably leads to encountering challenges and personal sacrifices, symbolized by the cross. This notion of loss reflects the idea that pursuing a life of faith may require giving up certain comforts or desires, yet it is an essential part of the spiritual journey.
In practice
During a sermon about the challenges of faith, I shared this quote to illustrate the sacrifices that come with following Christ.
We are not asked to SEE," said Amy. "Why need we when we KNOW?" We know--not the answer to the inevitable Why, but the incontestable fact that it is for the best. "It is an irreparable loss, but is it faith at all if it is 'hard to trust' when things are entirely bewildering?
Prayer lays hold of God's plan and becomes the link between His will and its accomplishment on earth. Amazing things happen, and we are given the privilege of being the channels of the Holy Spirit's prayer.
What sort of world might it have been if Eve had refused the servants offer and had said to him instead, βlet me not be like God. Let me be what I was made to be - let me be a woman'?
Worship is not an experience. Worship is an act, and this takes discipline. We are to worship ''in spirit and in truth.'' Never mind about the feelings. We are to worship in spite of them.
Restlessness and impatience change nothing except our peace and joy. Peace does not dwell in outward things, but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully and quietly on Him who has all things safely in His hands.
If your goal is purity of heart, be prepared to be thought very odd.
Write on my gravestone: 'Infidel, Traitor.', infidel to every church that compromises with wrong; traitor to every government that oppresses the people.
A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
The motto of all the mongoose family is, "Run and find out," and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose.
On becoming soldiers we have not ceased to be citizens.
It's difficult because we tend to overrate the pain of failure. We fear it too much. That's research that emerges from psychology. We think it's going to be worse than it really is. And, I think, as we get a bit older, really after we leave school or college, we quickly stop experimenting.
Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws, and asks no omen, but his country's cause.
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