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Jumpstarter 9 of 10

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Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up  /  Chapter 5: Why They Succeeded Where We Often Fail  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 9
The “message of the cross” section insists that early converts were told to expect suffering, and it contrasts that with evangelism that implies “bliss”; how might our gospel presentations—and our private expectations of God—change if we took Jesus’ “take his cross” words as part of the basic invitation?
Another way to ask: How would our gospel message change if we clearly told people to expect suffering and “take up the cross”? How would that change what you personally expect from God?

Direct Answer Based on the transcript, including “take up the cross” in the basic invitation would produce more realistic discipleship: new believers would expect discomfort and loss for Christ, not a painless life. Privately, we would measure God’s faithfulness by eternity and obedience, not by immediate comfort.

Support from Transcript:

  • Jesus’ words quoted: “He who does not take his cross…is not worthy of me…he who loses his life…will find it.”
  • Bercot says today we “rarely mention” this and sometimes imply life will be “filled with bliss.”
  • Early believers heard suffering would come: Lactantius says the one who chooses eternity will “live in discomfort for the present.”
  • Ignatius insists it’s necessary “to actually be a Christian,” and “If we are not ready to die…his life is not in us.”
  • Bercot’s “deacon in the hospital” story shows Americans confuse normal hardships with “suffer[ing] as a Christian.”
Discussion Follow-ups What would you change in how you share the gospel to include both grace and the cross? How would your prayers change if you expected God to train you through hardship, not remove it?

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