The Cross and Honor

Honor is an underrated power within ourselves and our world. Earlier generations had role models, both authentic and bogus, for honor. Movie stars, war heroes, rock stars, athletes, and certain leaders are the typical fare when it comes to who we as a Western society see as celebrities of honor. Christians speak often, and sometimes understand, that God is the ultimate recipient of honor. To take too much honor on oneself or lavish too much on someone else is idolatry. There are news articles from this last week that suggest that March Madness brings out nothing less than idolatry. The worship of God never rises, some reporters claim, to the worship of a favorite college basketball team.

Though we honor God well before basketball teams or ourselves, we also can be people of honor. The Cross, an event that explains so much and fulfills what nothing else can, is the ultimate example of honor. Jesus Christ was and is a man of honor. How He went about His life is how "honorable" is done. This helps me today. Every day now in my mid-forties I sometimes survey my distant and immediate past with regret and frustration. My age and gender influence this strange experience, but I know that all people of all ages and genders who want their lives to count for something are subject to a similar temptation. If we want to live a good life, we'll tend to examine the life we're living. It can be dangerous emotionally. Honesty is always more dangerous at first, but afterwards it is the safest of all courses. The problem with seeing the problems in my life is that it drains me of the energy to solve the problems in my life if I don't have a compelling vision. The problem with being a little older is that what used to pass for a compelling personal vision has evaporated. The old finish lines got washed away by the rain. This is where honor comes in. To live an honorable life in Christ and for Christ is rare and valuable. It will bless everyone. It exceeds any other success I wanted for myself. In fact, it nicely corrects the vanity behind some of those old dreams. How do I live an honorable life? I look to the Cross. Jesus showed me how. He died that I may live. He died that I may have a compelling vision to orient my life around. I've made public promises (2 vows, marital and vocational, and 1 oath, military). Many fail to keep these. Many minimize these. No need to. Prior to them I prayed to receive Christ. That has made all the difference. If I can represent Him well, even through my failures, I can, only with His help, claim a life of honor. Somehow, these thoughts, inspired simply by looking at the Cross and Christ with the eyes of my heart, transform regret and frustration into... satisfaction.

There's no end to the good Christ does in the life of a man or woman. No end. Again from 1st Corinthians 1:18, "the message of the Cross is the power of God." Amen.