THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST

We want Easter without Lent. We want Resurrection without Crucifixion. We want to share in the victory of Christ without sharing in the suffering of Christ, and that's impossible.

We want to jump over that part about suffering, taking up the cross, entering into the suffering of others, repentance. That's part of the dilemma of the North American church. If we separate Easter from Lent, we are providing a theological and liturgical undergirding for imitating the wrong god. The gospels never separate Resurrection from Crucifixion.

-- U. M. Bishop Kenneth L. Carder in Alive Now, published by The Upper Room, Nashville, TN. Used with permission.

 
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