I am blessed to be involved with the ministry of Teen Challenge as referral officer and volunteer. This Bible-based rehab program has helped turn many lives around. A lot of people are aware of the ‘awesome’ testimonies, but what about those, and there are quite a few who, after accepting Christ and completing our program, still return to old abusive habits? Put the rehab guys aside for a moment. Why do so many of us ‘return to our vomit’? (See Proverbs 26:11). Why do we so easily permit inexcusable sin, like pornography? Why is the Western Church engaged in as much, if not more, sinful behaviour than ‘the world’ it claims to be ’set apart’ from? (Check out divorce rates among Christians and other stats at www.barna.org). I have often thought, ‘Is the Gospel really powerful enough? Can it permanently change people in the 21st century?’
After a particularly difficult couple of weeks at the rehab these questions were constantly on my mind. A fellow in a discussion group summed up the general attitude when, in spite of what I had just said about the vice of bitterness, he informed the group that bitterness worked for him; he actually enjoyed hating people even though he claimed to be a Christian! I remember thinking later, ‘What’s wrong with these people? Come to think of it, what’s wrong with me, and the church?’ It was then the Gethsemane scene from the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’ and the scripture it was taken from (Luke 22:39-46) came to mind. Jesus is agonising over going to the cross. He did not want to drink the bitter cup that was before Him and go through with what He was born to do. But in the middle of His anguish, this intense struggle, He said this (verse 42): ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’
After 5 years of working in rehab I finally saw what was wrong with them, with me, and the permissive Western Church I’m a part of; we refuse to follow Christ and break our will. This is why so little permanent change results from our emotional altar calls and ‘awesome’ events (check the stats 6 months later). This is what makes the rehab process such a long drawn out affair for so many. This is why we divorce so easily, why we live so selfishly, and give in so regularly. The unbroken will is what robs the Gospel of its power to permanently change us. It’s clear from examining the sin in my own life: the will is where the problem is. If I’m honest with myself, I can pin-point the exact moment when I said, ‘No, I want to do this. My will be done’.
He prays only once that the cup might pass from him, even then submitting himself to God’s will, and twice that it should come if it must be so. — Blaise Pascal, Pensees (919)*
We love to talk about the grace and mercy of the Cross, which is good and necessary. But unfortunately, the message of Gethsemane is being ignored. Gethsemane was crucial to the salvation process. The Cross could not have occurred without it. Only after Jesus broke His will at Gethsemane was He ready for the walk to Calvary. After Gethsemane the rest was a formality. His temptation to back out was over. The deal was done. Jesus’ decision to break His will and obey the Father was like jumping off a cliff. The falling part, the road to the Cross, was a given once the decision to jump was made. Jesus had to crucify His will before they could crucify His body.
The perfect man brought to Gethsemane a will, and a strong will, to escape suffering and death if such an escape were compatible with the Father’s will, combined with a perfect willingness for obedience if it were not. — C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
The incarnation of Christ, the ‘God-man’, is more mysterious and mind-blowing than the doctrine of the Trinity or predestination. Kierkegaard called it ‘the absolute paradox’. But in the garden, as Jesus was on His knees earnestly praying, we get a small window into this glorious divine mystery. Here at Gethsemane we see Jesus’ humanity and His divinity side by side. Jesus as the Son of God wanted to go to the Cross. That’s why He came to earth; but Jesus as the Son of Man wanted to escape it. Is it any wonder He was sweating blood?
The way of the Cross is through Gethsemane. And the Western Church has tended to bypass this crucial place. Our wills remain unbroken. We preach a self-serving prosperity gospel now. And the cross our hyped-up motivational evangelists lead people to is not the one Christ died on. They kneel, not before the Cross of Christ, but before an altar to themselves. Unless the will is broken there is no real conversion. We must follow Christ’s example. Will-breaking Gethsemane is the only way to the life-changing Cross.
Jesus said this (Luke 9:23), ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me’. Did you see Gethsemane? It’s in the line ‘let him deny himself’. Denying our self is breaking our will, and it’s not something we do just once. If there is a daily cross to pick up then there is also a daily will to break. There’s no avoiding it. It’s the way of the Cross.
Is the Gospel really powerful enough? Can the Cross deliver the drug addict for good and stop our mockery of marriage? Can it prevent us from returning to the vomit of habitual sin? Can it save our souls and change our lives? The answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ Once the will has been broken at Gethsemane, the Cross of Jesus Christ will change us. It never fails.
(All Bible quotes from the ESV)
* Pascal Pensees, translated by A.J. Krailsheimer (Penguin Books)