There are some common enemies of the Cross of Christ...
"For many, as I have often told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is in their 'shame.' Their minds are occupied with earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
- Philippians 3:18-20
St. Paul says the "enemies of the Cross of Christ" are characterized by the following:
1. "Their God is their stomach." (v.19)
This would be seriving our disordered passions, whims, sins, inordinate desires, and disordered attractions and affections toward things.
2. "Their glory is in their 'shame.'" (v. 19)
This would be one who has no desire to repent; perhaps they even enjoy their sin, unwilling to give it up. If they do want to give it up, they don't want to give it up now. "Later..." Some are even so bold as to "mock God" (see Galatians 6:7) and boast of their sin. "Yeah, I got drunk last night!" or perhaps share their stories of sexual endeavors and pleasures.
3. "Their minds are occuppied with earthly things." (v. 19)
This would be living without your end in mind; living without a final and ultimate goal and purpose to life. As Christians, we know the primary and ONLY goal that matters is attaining heaven, eternal salvation. Everything else one does in life should serve this purpose and this purpose alone. But many wander and make choices aimlessly, or only in short-sightedness, neglecting to consider how it will offend God, effect their eternal salvation and the souls of others.
This would also include forgetting that all we have, all we've worked hard for and will work hard for, and all we accumulate here in this life will one day come to naught. It will all mean nothing at our judgement before God. It will disintigrate and decay; we cannot bring it with us when we die. These things are merely temporary and again, they should serve our final purpose in life: Our eternal salvation.
St. Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven. We were made for heaven and heaven is our true home.
Enemies of the Cross
The culture we live in provides us also with many "enemies" of the Cross:
Ease
Comfort
Convenience
Luxury
Affluence
Power
Prestige and position
Vainity
Wealth
Vainglory
Self-love and self-will
"Dropping your cross"
Do any of these characterize a picture of Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross? Absolutely not. But our culture, television commercials, ads, and all other sorts of media and messages "market" precisely these things.
Living a life that caters to any of these things above following "the way of the Cross" has a big temptation to leads us away from the footsteps of Jesus, which leads to the path of eternal life. We can easily take preference for the above-listed things, to the neglect of patterning our lives upon Christ and the Cross.
This is the "way of the Cross," which is opposite of the "enemies" of the Cross listed above:
Sacrifice
Simplicity
Suffering
Humiliation (humbling ourselves before God and others)
Carrying our crosses, not avoiding them or dropping them
Living a spirit of poverty (in whatever way God calls us)
God's will; dying to our own self-will
Love of God and neighbor; "crucifying" our own self-love
When you look upon the Cross, upon a crucifix if you have one, these things are exactly what you see.
Which do you typically prefer?
St. Paul proclaimed, "..we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1:23). A stumbling block indeed. Complete backwardness to the world; completely "unwise" according to worldly wisdom.
Then he goes on, "the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength...Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God." (1 Corinthians 1:25, 27-29).
Strong words. Incredible indeed.
Do you have the courage to live as such?
We are all called to, and by God's grace, we all can.
Now, this all seems repugnant to our weak, fallen, human nature...and in a way, it is. And our Lord knew it would be so to us. Yet at the same time, Chrisitans should know that the more we pariticipate in the Cross of Christ, the more we will simultaneously pariticpate in His Resurrection and glory and experience here on earth a foretaste of the eternal beatitude in heaven! The joy! The immense love! The "peace which surpasses all understanding!" Amazing! And it's true!
"The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." (Romans 8:16-17)
Too many want to bypass the Cross and get right on to the "sweet stuff" of the Resurrection. Some churches even preach a health and wealth gospel, which is false. It's as though in this life we are meant to experience nothing but perfect health, wealth, and happiness. Well...if that's the case...why in the world do we need heaven?
Our life is meant to be a walking and imitation of the path of Christ.
Living out the Cross in Day-to-Day Life
Here are simple ideas to get us started and draw us back to what is means to be disciples of Jesus, and not "enemies of the Cross":
Don't complain when your day doesn't go as you planned
Deny yourself some small pleasure that you typically enjoy with your meal (perhaps forgo the ketchup or dressing?)
Use your time for someone else, not yourself
Let someone else go before you
Serve yourself last
Don't whine or complain if you get hurt; don't seek pity from others; offer it to the Lord
Sleep without a pillow
Don't backlash at someone who speaks ill of you or criticizes you. Did our Lord do that?
For one day, give up something that you enjoy (tv, social media, etc...)
Don't buy something that you really don't need
If you get served watered-down hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts, don't ask for a new one, just offer it as a penance in union with the Cross of Christ
Dinner not served warm enough at a restaurant? Offer it as a penance and don't complain.
Crazy right? Welcome to authentic discipleship. Perhaps this is much different than what you're used to or what you've heard. Just remember, "..we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block" (1 Cor 1:23). "...the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength..." (1 Cor 1:25).
We can ALL get over this stumbling block with God's grace.
Mother Mary, that most perfect disciple of Christ, teach me how to walk in the footsteps of your Son and model myself upon the Cross for the glory and love of God. Purify within me any self-centered or vain intentions.