Mark 8:34-38
George Mueller was a man in England with a very large footprint of gospel impact across the nineteenth century. He partnered with D. L. Moody, preached for C. H. Spurgeon, and inspired the missionary endeavors of Hudson Taylor. Across his lifetime he cared for over 10,000 orphans and inspired others to do the same, so much so that half-a-century after his work had begun at least 100,000 orphans were cared for in England alone. He never asked for money directly, but as he prayed, God answered exceedingly and abundantly with millions of dollars (in todays currency) coming into the ministry for the orphans. After he turned seventy, he fulfilled an ambition and traveled to forty-two countries preaching on average once a day to accumulated audiences of three million people. When asked the secret to his success he would reply, “There was a day when I died, utterly died – died to George Mueller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will. Died to the world, its approval or censure. Died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends, and since then, I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.”
In those words, George Mueller reminds us that the secret to a full life, one that overflows with the blessing of God, is a life emptied of self-will, self-love, and self-ambition. Death to self is the true beginning of real life. Life is found not in self-preservation, self-promotion, or self-pleasure, but in giving one’s life away for the sake of Christ and the gospel. And what we have in the words of George Mueller is an echo of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mark’s Gospel.
In explaining the terms and conditions for service in His kingdom, the Lord Jesus tells His disciples that following Him ultimately leads to a crucifixion and death of our carnal self as the controlling principle in life (Mark 8:34-35). The Greek word for “deny” in our text means, “to refuse to associate with.” That implies that in coming after Christ as newly minted Christians, we will refuse to associate with the person we were before we were saved. We will recognize that we are new creatures in Christ and the life we now live; we live in complete dependence upon and dedication to Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20). The mention of taking up our cross by Christ speaks to the extent of our self-denial. The man on the cross was a dead man; he had no future plans for himself. The cross-bearing disciple of Christ therefore is a man or woman whose commitment to Christ will be worked out in either actual martyrdom or everyday martyrdom. Disciples will either actually die for the sake of the gospel like most of the Twelve did or they will be a living sacrifice, taking up their cross daily (Luke 9:23).
Most of us will bear our cross through everyday martyrdom in which we will die a thousand deaths to self by forgiving those who have wronged us (Eph. 4:32), by pushing past tiredness in service (Phil. 2:17), by taking a risk (Acts 15:26), by putting others first (Phil. 2:4-5, 8), by giving generously (2 Cor. 8:7-9), and by absorbing insults for the sake of the gospel (1 Peter 4:12-14).
The Christian life is the crucified life!