Riverwood Presbyterian Church

General Theology

Church on the Cross

by Blake Johnson

The Cross intersects the past, present, and future. The finished work of Christ in the past is the basis for our present justification, anticipating God’s ultimate verdict in the future that we are indeed righteous. In a similar way, the cross stretches us from the past to the present to the future in the way we conceive the Church. We hold fast to the traditions passed down to us, but we also stand ready to engage the future.

Peter Leithart has some helpful comments in this regard:

According to Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy’s cross of reality, individuals are always stretched out on a cross, in four directions - to the past and to the future, to the inside and to the outside. Growth and maturity come when we endure the cross in faith that when we are torn to pieces we will yet be revived, that our death on the cross of reality is the gateway to life. Like Jesus, we are glorified through the cross. Churches are also on the cross. Churches are called to remain faithful to the past while also boldly embracing the novelty of the future; called to cultivate a distinctive language and culture inside the community, while also listening attentively to voices from outside. Life would be much easier if we could ignore one or the other poles of the cross. Life would be much easier if we could retreat to a pure inside and ignore the outside; life would be much easier if we could rest in the securities of the past rather than face the uncertainties of the future.

May Riverwood be a church on the Cross.