"Counterfeit Cross" and "Countering the Counterfeit" by Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson's book When Heaven Invades Earth continues to challenge my thinking about the Christian life and ministry. Here are a couple of sections that I think are pertinent to the Church today.

COUNTERFEIT CROSS (pp. 146-147)

Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." [Matthew 16:24] A misunderstanding of this call has led many to follow His life of self-denial, but to stop short of His life of power. For them the cross-walk involves trying to crucify their sin nature by embracing joyless brokenness as evidence of the cross. But, we must follow Him all the way--to a lifestyle empowered by the resurrection!

Most every religion has a copy of the cross-walk. Self-denial, self-abasement, and the like are all easily copied by the sects of the world. People admire those who have religious disciplines. They applaud fasting and respect those who embrace poverty or endure disease for the sake of personal spirituality. But show them a life filled with joy because of the transforming power of God, and they will not only applaud but will want to be like you. Religion is unable to mimic the life of resurrection with its victory over sin and hell.

One who embraces an inferior cross is constantly filled with introspection and self-induced suffering. But the cross is not self-applied--Jesus did not nail Himself to the cross. Christians who are trapped by this counterfeit are constantly taking about their weaknesses. If the devil finds us uninterested in evil, then he'll try to get us to focus on our unworthiness and inability. This is especially noticable in prayer meetings where people try to project great brokeneness before God, hoping to earn revival. They will often re-confess old sins searching for real humility.

In my own pursuit with God, I often become preoccupied with ME! It was easy to think that being constantly aware of my faults and weakness was humility. It's not! If I'm the main subject, talking incessantly about my weaknesses, I have entered into the most subtle form of pride. Repeated phrases such as, "I'm so unworthy," become a nauseating replacement for the declarations of the worthiness of God. By being sold on my own unrighteouness, the enemy has disengaged me from effective service. It's a perversion of true holiness when introspection causes my spiritual self-esteem to increase, but my effectiveness in demonstrating the power of the gospel to decrease.

True brokenness causes complete dependency on God, moving to radical obedience that releases the power of the gospel to the world around us. [Bold mine]

COUNTERING THE COUNTERFEIT (pp. 148-149)

I believe that for the most part this counterfeit cross-walk is embraced because it requires no faith. It's easy to see my weakness, my propensity toward sin, and my inability to be like Jesus. Confessing this truth requires no faith at all. One the contrary, to do as Paul commanded in Romans 6:13, to consider myself dead to sin, I must believe God!

Therefore, in your weakest state declare, "I AM STRONG!" Agree with God regardless of how you feel and discover the power of resurrection. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. The first place that faith must be exercised is in our own standing with God.

When God gave Moses a noble task, he responded with, "Who am I? God changed the subject saying, "Certainly I will be with you." When we are focused on our lack, the Father tries to change the subject to something that will lead us to the source and foundation of faith: Himself. The noble call always reveals the nobility of the Caller.

Apart from Christ, we are unworthy. And it's true that without Him we are nothing. But I'm not without Him, and I will never be again! At what point do we start thinking of our worht through His eyes? If it's true that the value of something is measured by what someone else will pay, then we need to rethink our worth. Do we ever acknowledge who we are before Him? Please don't misunderstand, I'm not encouraging arrogance or cockiness. But wouldn't it honor Him more if we believed that He actually did a good enough job in saving us, and that we really are saved? Jesus paid the ultimate price to make it possible for us to have a change in our identity. Isn't it time we believe it and receive the benefits? If we don't, we'll break down in our confidence as we stand before the world in these final days. The boldness we need is not self-confidence, but the confidence that the Father has in the work of His Son in us. It's no longer a question of heaven or hell. It's only a question of how much of hell's thinking I will allow into this heavenly mind of mine.

Doesn't it honor Him more when His children no longer see themselves only as sinners saved by grace, but now as heirs of God? Isn't it a greater form of humility to believe Him when He says we are precious in His sight when we don't feel very precious? Doesn't it honor Him more when we think of ourselves as free from sin because He said that we are? At some point we must rise up to the high call of God and stop saying things about ourselves that are no longer true. If we're going to fully come in to what God has for us in this last day's revival, we will have to come to grips with the issue of being more than sinners saved by grace. Maturity comes from faith in the sufficiency of God's redemptive work that establishes us as sons and daughters of the Most High.