The Cross as a Strength
A few weeks ago, in the Facebook group for Gallup-Certified Strengths Coaches, someone posted an interesting question:
“Does anyone know what the 35th CliftonStrength was?”
That question sparked one of the most entertaining threads that group has seen in a while.
(For those less familiar with Gallup’s CliftonStrengths® assessment, it identifies a person’s top areas of natural talent that can be developed into strengths. The assessment measures 34 different talent themes.)
A sampling of the responses:
Sarcasm
Anti-WOO (iykyk)
Humor
Cynicism
Hope
I took the conversation in a different direction.
For Christians, I think the 35th strength is the cross of Christ.
(I won’t claim this idea as my own. All props to my dear friend and mentor, Dr. Dobie Moser, for this idea. Dobie was the first person to introduce me to CliftonStrengths, and this concept came from him.)
As Lent draws nearer to its culmination, and we prepare to remember Jesus’ passion and death on Good Friday, it seems an appropriate time to reflect on the mystery of the cross.
The Cross: strength or weakness?
If we only look at the story of Jesus until Good Friday, it looks like a story of failure, defeat, and weakness. Crucifixion was an agonizing method of torture and capital punishment, and Jesus’ death on the cross hardly looks like a successful culmination to the mission.
But Good Friday isn’t the end of the story. As Christians today, we have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story. (Or at least more of the story. Our full human story as God’s people is still unfolding.) We know that death did not win; that, in fact, death was defeated forever. In the empty tomb of Easter Sunday, we see the strength of God’s power and God’s love.
In the cross of Christ, we see weakness transformed into strength, failure into victory, and suffering into love.
Why it matters…
But this is more than me just waxing theological.
This has real implications for our lives. It has a profound impact on how we navigate the challenges in our lives – if we choose to let it.
Because Jesus wasn’t the only one to have a cross.
You and I do too. Lots of them. They come with being human and living in a human (read: imperfect) world.
But do we ever think of those crosses as a strength, or as a gift?
I never had, until I encountered this quotation from St. Francis de Sales:
“The everlasting God has in his wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost Heart. This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His Holy Name, anointed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the All-Merciful Love of God.”
This quotation found me when I was going through a particularly challenging time. I was facing deep disappointment, a bitter sense of betrayal, and lots of insecurity about my competence as a leader. And this quotation somehow found its way to me. And I cried.
Because it was hard.
Because it was true.
Because I felt seen, and held, and loved.
Because I knew I wasn’t alone.
Because I believed that I’d make it through.
And while I didn’t like the idea of my cross being a “gift” one little bit, I came to understand why it was. As I walked through that challenging situation, I noticed the gifts: what I was learning about leadership, what I was becoming aware of in myself, how I was growing – even though it was painful, how I was leaning on God more. I was able to see in glimpses how this bout with suffering was a gift from God’s inmost heart. I saw how it shaped, molded and softened my heart to fit better with God’s.
Please understand that I’m not saying I like my crosses. Or that seeing them as a gift from God is easy. Or that understanding suffering this way makes it painless. None of that is true.
What is true, at least for me, is that I’m reminded that God loves me to the depth of my being, knows me fully – from the inside out, and is promising me that the cross doesn’t win. I’m given the faith to see the cross as strength, not weakness; the hope to see the cross as gift, not punishment; the love to see through the suffering of the cross to the mercy and compassion it brings to the world - and very often brings to my own life or the lives of others through me.
What’s true for you?
As we move closer to the Triduum, may we accept the invitation to journey with Jesus during these days – to prayerfully be with him as he carries his cross, and allow him to be with us as we carry ours.
Perhaps these questions will be good ones to pray with during these days:
Looking back, have your times of suffering, of struggling with a cross in your life, been a time of strength or weakness?
When you think about the sufferings, struggles, and failures in your past, how might they have been a gift to you?
As you think about the cross(es) you’re carrying today, what impacts you most from the quotation from St. Francis de Sales?
And if you need to give "voice" to any of the crosses or the gifts that get stirred up in you through this, know that I'm here for you. Sometimes it's helpful just to "say it aloud" - whether that's in a conversation or an email. So feel free to email me if I can serve as a witness to you and your courage as you carry your cross with strength.
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